


Protection Squad

by CheeWrites



Category: K-pop, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Bird Hybrid Jeon Jungkook, Bird Hybrid Park Jimin, Cat Hybrid Min Yoongi | Suga, Dog Hybrid Jung Hoseok | J-Hope, Dog hybrid kim namjoon, F/M, Fennec Fox Hybrid Kim Taehyung, Hedgehog Hybrid Kim Seokjin, Hybrid AU, Hybrid Jeon Jungkook, Hybrid Jung Hoseok | J-Hope, Hybrid Kim Seokjin | Jin, Hybrid Kim Taehyung | V, Hybrid Min Yoongi | Suga, Hybrid Park Jimin, Hyrbid Kim Namjoon, Jeon Jungkook Bird Shapeshifter, Jeon Jungkook Shapeshifter, Jung Hoseok Dog Shapeshifter, Jung Hoseok Shapeshifter, Kim Namjoon Dog Shapeshifter, Kim Namjoon Shapeshifter, Kim Seokjin Hedgehog Shapeshifter, Kim Seokjin Shapeshifter, Kim Taehyung Fennec Fox Shapeshifter, Kim Taehyung Shapeshifter, Magic AU, Mental Health Themes, Min Yoongi cat shapeshifter, Min Yoongi shapeshifter, Park Jimin Bird Shapeshifter, Park Jimin Shapeshifter, Soulmate AU, Strong depression/anxiety themes, Suicide Attempt, possible triggers, shapeshifter AU, soulmate, warnings in notes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2018-09-22
Packaged: 2019-06-22 06:37:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 42,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15575943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CheeWrites/pseuds/CheeWrites
Summary: A kind woman offers you a place of work at the animal shelter she owns and one of the animals seems to take a strong liking to you.You thought Suga was just like any other cat you happened to meet in therapy. You realise how wrong you were when he reveals his true self to you in order to do everything he can to prevent anything hurting you ever again.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> 1/15
> 
> Pairing- Reader (Y/N) x Suga [or is it… :)) ]
> 
> Genre - Shapeshifter!BTS , magic AU , Soulmate AU(eventually)
> 
> Warning- multiple possible triggers; Mental disorders talked about and portrayed (depression, anxiety , suicidal thoughts and acts) abuse . near death . plus possibly more .  
> If you are uncertain if you can read, privately message me about what you wish to avoid and I'll tell you if the story contains it.

The past 8 years of your life had consisted of your mental health fluctuating from depression to anxiety, to something akin to a settled happiness, to apathy and back again. You didn't really like to ponder on reasons or triggers for any of your moods, you just accepted them and waited for things to get better. Your family, on the other hand, did not approve of your methods, despite the fact you had essentially improved your mental health by a long shot alone over the past 3 years. Sure, you had some help with chemical imbalance via medication but to be entirely honest, you had gained the habit of forgetting to take them so often you only took one pill every three days, when you looked over at night and saw the little tray on your bedside table. Your parents were the biggest causes of your mental health being mentioned on a regular basis. They didn't want to make you worse, in fact quite the opposite, they wanted you to get better, they wanted you to be happy and not just the form of happiness you had settled for. They knew more could be done for you; for a start some kind of counselling or talking therapy, but you refused. You were adamant you wouldn't partake in such a thing. You had never liked talking about yourself and you didn't much like the idea of crying in front of a complete stranger for reasons you probably wouldn't know. Logically, you knew that it could probably help, that the doctor would be a trained professional with much more insight into the workings of the human mind and therefore have words of wisdom to pass on. Yet, you were stubborn and still refused. You figured you were doing fine without spilling everything you were unaware existed within the confines of your mind and soul, so you stayed with working on yourself in the way you had been doing since you first heard the term "depression" linked with you.

Your mother had always kept her eyes and ears peeled for any semblance of something that could possibly benefit your health and wellbeing in even the slightest way. So it was never a surprise when she came home with new leaflets and information to hand over to you. Of course, you also never followed up on any of it. You'd always read the leaflets and do some research all the same just to satisfy your curiosity and urge to expand your knowledge. She knew this but she never gave up.

One day while out in the car with your dad, he pulled up in front of a building you had never seen before. You stared at it for a moment and upon seeing the sign and realising what the building was, you bounced excitedly in your seat. "Are we finally getting a cat?!" You shrieked, turning with wide eyes to look at the man that raised you. He laughed at your excitement but said nothing and climbed out of the car. Of course, you practically ran to follow him into the animal shelter. Once inside, the receptionist smiled up at him.

"Ah, just in time Mr Y/L/N." She greeted. "This must be Y/N." She smiled warmly at you. You smiled politely back and nodded. "Well, Y/N, if you'd like to follow me, the session is about to start." She got up and walked to the section of the desk that opened. She folded back the top and opened the door. Confusion was evident on your features.

"Session?" You mumbled, looking between the woman and your dad. He smiled apologetically at you.

"It's a therapy session." He announced and your whole body ran cold. "Your mum arranged it, everyone is nice, we met them last week."

"I don't want therapy." You reminded, glaring at him. You were fed up with telling your parents, your family, your doctor that therapy was not something you were even tempted to consider. You were opposed to it for reasons you didn't even know but were still certain that you didn't want to partake in any kind of session.

"I know, but it's time you do something to help yourself, Y/N." He nudged you towards the woman who was waiting patiently by the opening still, a sympathetic smile on her face.

"I'm fine."

"It's only an hour, if you hate it that much, you don't need to come back." He insisted. "I'll be back to pick you up in time."

"You're leaving me?" Your eyes widened and you felt tears beginning to tickle your eyes. "Don't leave me." You practically begged. You saw your father's mask crack but he stood firm and motioned to you to go. "Dad." you pleaded but he shook his head. You realised then why your mum hadn't joined you. She would've crumbled and given in to you. She would've probably almost cried herself seeing you breaking down like that and knowing she was the cause of it.

"Y/N." The receptionist called softly. You looked over slowly and tried your best to stop the liquid in your eyes developing further. You hate crying in front of people, especially strangers. "You'll be okay, no-one will force you to talk or interact. This is just to help you relax and let go and if you want to talk to someone, there are people here." You heard the entrance door close and span your head in time to see your dad heading to his car through the window in the door. You choked on a sob and did your best to calm yourself as you watched the vehicle leave. He had really left you alone. You were in a building you didn't know with people you didn't know for a session you were unaware even existed ten minutes prior. "I'll tell you what, why don't you sit with me here for a few minutes, I'll get you some water and once you feel ready, we'll go in together." She spoke softly, gaining your gaze on her again. "Sound good?" You didn't want to be rude so you simply nodded and shakily walked to join her. She pulled out a chair from behind the desk which you sat on when prompted to. "I will be right back, Y/N."

You did your best to calm yourself, which actually took mere minutes before the receptionist had even returned. Thankfully, you hadn't progressed into full breakdown mode so you could calm fairly easily. You were glad you hadn't had a panic attack because you always felt embarrassed for acting that way afterwards, despite knowing you couldn't always help it and many people suffered from the disorder. You know panic attacks were relatively normal in society but that didn't stop you from feeling like a freak.

As promised, the receptionist brought you a bottle of cool water which you thanked her for and sipped at until you were calm. Seeing your state had improved greatly, she put her hand on your arm carefully, uncertain if you were uncomfortable with a stranger touching you in such a way. You didn't pull away or look disgusted so she held you a bit firmer, hoping to come across as supportive. "Do you think you're ready to go inside now, sweetheart?" You swallowed thickly and looked up at her instead of staring blankly at the bottle clutched in your hands.

"O-Okay." You agreed and she smiled kindly.

You followed her through the double doors behind the desk and into the hall. At the end of the corridor, you both took a right and walked past a few more doors before she stopped in front of another set of double doors. These ones were made of glass and revealed to you a large room. Your eyes widened in wonder at the sight of the animals roaming around inside, being petted by people, some just relaxing, some playing together.

"Here it is." She announced, motioning to the room.

"I can play with cats?" You mumbled in awe.

"Yep." She laughed lightly, glad you seemed a lot more open to the session now that you understood what it was exactly. "Your parents did say you'd much prefer the cats than the dogs or other animals."

"There's other animals?" You peered into the room, trying to spot an animal other than the cats and dogs.

"There's a few reptiles and even birds-"

"I don't like birds." Your face contorted into an expression of distaste that made the woman laugh again.

"Don't worry, there are no birds roaming around in the room, or reptiles for that matter, they're in other rooms. It's hectic enough with cats and dogs in one room, can you imagine the disaster we'd have on our hands if we added other animals to the mix?" A small smile of amusement lifted your lips at the thought and she relaxed entirely beside you. "Let's go inside and get you a nice comfy spot." You nodded immediately so she opened the right-hand door. You both quickly slipped into the room before an animal could escape.

Instantly, a dog bounded over to you excitedly.

"This is our resident happy virus." She giggled, bending over to scratch the dog behind the ear as he stared up at you, tail wagging madly as he waited for a greeting. He didn't jump up at you and you were glad as you didn't much like that. Happily, you crouched slightly to pet the animal. He turned his head to sniff then immediately lick your hand. "Ah, our Hobi likes you." She cooed. "I get the feeling he'll look after you well." She bent down and produced a dog treat from her pocket to feed to the animal. "Good boy, Hobi." He barked happily then trotted off when another staff member called for him. "Do you want me to sit with you for a little while?" She asked considerately. You looked around the room and spotted a little corner where an almost entirely silver-white, fluffy cat was curled up alone and shook your head lightly before looking back at her.

"I think I'll be okay, thank you." She smiled and gave you a reassuring arm squeeze then left.

Carefully, you made your way over to sit on the bean bag near the lonely cat. Its ear dark grey ear twitched and it looked at you with judging eyes but otherwise acted like you didn't exist and curled back up to continue its nap. You wanted to stroke the beautiful animal but you figured it probably wouldn't appreciate being touched while napping, or at all if you're honest, so you just sat with your hands in your lap and fiddled with your bottle.

After a few minutes, Hobi ran over and sat by your legs, looking up at you expectantly. "What?" You mumbled. "You want something, buddy?" You reached out to pet the animal and he leant up into your touch. Quickly, he lifted his front paws up onto the beanbag to nudge your chin with his nose. "You're an affectionate one, huh?" You mused, continuing to pet him. "Come on then." You patted your lap softly while moving the bottle aside and Hobi didn't hesitate to jump up on you and nuzzle up to you. "Cute." You ran your fingers through the soft brown fur on his back. Hobi looked over at the cat and let out a soft bark. The cat turned its head and you were certain it glared at the dog who didn't seem to mind the cat's attitude. For a few long moments, you just looked between the two, amused at the fact it looked as if they were having a silent, telepathic conversation, all the while you didn't stop your hand movements on the dog.

"Food time!" A staff member called. Hobi looked over at the member, his tail wagging excitedly before looking up at you with a whine as if he didn't want to leave you.

"Go eat, I will still be here." You replied instantly. Hobi leant up to give you a little doggy kiss on your cheek making you giggle before he bounded off to eat. "Don't you eat?" You asked the cat without thinking, looking over at it as it didn't move but at least it was awake. It looked at you. "Too much effort huh, I feel you." When it didn't look away, you slowly lifted your hand up and towards it but you made no attempt to touch, still uncertain if it'd allow you. Cautiously, the cat got up and turned around. It sat directly in front of your hand and lowered it's head slightly. An excited smile lifted your lips as you carefully stroked its head. "You're so soft." You cooed. "I'm glad you let me pet you, I wanted to as soon as I came in." It suddenly nudged your hand so you retracted it, thinking it was done with your attention. But, the cat trotted over and jumped from its perch to land on the beanbag beside you. It sniffed at your lap a moment and decided against sitting on you and instead settled next to your thigh. Gradually, you returned your hand to the animal, mindlessly stroking as you admired it and slowly, you heard soft purring permeate the air.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How often should I post a new chapter? I don't mind even if you guys(readers) want one daily, just let me know so I can upload accordingly 

Despite having enjoyed yourself at the session, you told your mum off for booking you an appointment and refused to return.  
You thought about Hobi and the silver-haired cat a few times over the next couple of days but a walk to the shops allowed you to meet other cats wandering the pathways and visits to the local park introduced dogs on walks with their owners into your life so you soon stopped thinking about the animals.

It wasn't until two weeks later when you were sat on a blanket in a new park you had recently found, reading a book did the shelter animals come back to mind, well, lap.

You jolted as a dog pounced on your crossed legs and made himself comfortable as his tail wagged excitedly. You looked down to see a familiar animal looking up at you expectantly. You looked around, looking for his owner but found no-one around, it was after all midevening and most people would be eating dinner.  
"Where's your owner, buddy?" You asked softly before placing down your book, careful not to lose your place, to find the tag on his collar. "Wait, Hobi?" You gasped once you read the name. He barked once and moved around as if he was dancing with joy that you finally said his name and recognised him.  
"What're you doing here?" Once again, you looked around but still, no-one showed. "I guess I should get you back to the shelter, it's pretty close, right?" He barked. "I'll take that as a yes." Hobi jumped from your lap when you started to move and watched as you packed your book and water bottle back into your bag. You watched in amusement as Hobi moved off the blanket and gripped one side in his mouth, eyes lifting to meet you. With an entertained smile, you picked up the other end and he instantly plodded over to you. You giggled and accepted the side, folding the blanket in half. You turned it, allowing Hobi to take the side and once again bring it to you. Once it was small enough, you put it in your bag and Hobi picked up your backpack in his mouth gently.  
"You know that's mine right?" He made a noise at you before turning and walking away. You followed and soon you were walking alongside the dog. 

It took just under twenty minutes to walk to the shelter and the whole way, Hobi carried your bag in his mouth earning strangers you passed by to compliment you on your incredibly well behaved and trained pup. You were too awkward to tell them that he wasn't actually yours and this was only the second time you had met him.

Upon entering the shelter, Hobi walked straight to the open section at the unmanned reception desk. Hesitantly, you followed him, especially as he looked back over his shoulder at you and waited for you to make the move after him.  
He lead you past the therapy room to a staircase that lead to an apartment that had the door wide open.

"Hobi!" The same receptionist as before exclaimed seeing the dog waltzing in from where she stood in the long hallway. "Where did you get to this time?" Slowly, her head lifted and she took in your figure stood awkwardly in the doorway, not sure what to do with yourself. "Oh, Y/N." She greeted with a surprised yet welcoming smile. "What brings you here?" 

"Uh, Hobi was at the park, I thought I should bring him back." You explained and her smile widened.

"Ah, I see! Thank you!" She gave Hobi a knowing look before pretending to be upset with him. "What have I told you about walking off like that, Hobi?" He backed up and ducked his head, as if ashamed. "Nevermind, what's done is done, give Y/N her bag back and go join your brothers in the dining room, tell them we have a guest." She gave Hobi another almost secretive look before he put down the bag and ran off further down the hallway. You could see a set of stairs at the end of the hall and realised that there was another storey to the apartment. You were surprised you didn't notice that from the outside.

Suddenly, a small, pale creature with massively oversized ears came barrelling out of the room Hobi disappeared into and headed your way at full speed. You jostled at the sight and the woman noticed.

"V!" She hissed and the creature skidded to a stop and looked up. "What do you think you're doing? Is that any way to treat a guest?" The creature whimpered backwards, lowering its head. "Be kind to Y/N, you don't want to scare off a new friend, do you?" For a second, you could've sworn the little animal shook his head as if he understood human speech clearly. You rubbed your eyes and put it down to the previous night's slumber being more damaged than you initially thought.  
"Would you mind if V approached you?" You looked up realising the woman was then addressing you. "He won't hurt you. He is just very sociable and excited when it comes to meeting new people." 

"Uh..." You looked down at the animal that was looking up at you with big, round, pleading eyes. "O-Okay." You agreed. V jumped forward making you flinch but he quickly calmed and walked carefully over to you. He sniffed around your ankles, circling you once before sitting directly in front of you. Once again, he looked up at you with big, round eye but this time, he was waiting for something else. "Does...does he want to be petted?" You asked, glancing up at the woman for only a second before returning your gaze to the animal. V's fluffy tail thumped the floor and you realised he was much like a dog, even if you weren't certain if he actually was one.

"He does love both attention and affection." She laughed softly. You nodded and slowly crouched down to cautiously pet the animal's head. His eyes closed and he titled into your touch, shuffling closer to nuzzle your leg while your hand moved to his side.

"He's cute." You commented, earning V to jump up onto your knees and press his front paws on your chest to nuzzle your jaw affectionately. You giggled. "What kind of animal is he? He acts like a dog but...he's not, is he?" You looked at the woman who shook her head, that same warm smile still lifting her features.

"He's a Fennec Fox." You hummed in acknowledgement while looking back to the fox that had decided to nestle his head into your hoodie pocket.

"I've never met a Fennec Fox before." 

"They're classed as exotic pets." You nodded slowly, taking in her words. "Oh I just realised, I've never told you who I am!" She laughed and you looked up at her, realising she was right. "My name is Molly, I own and run the shelter." 

"Oh!" You held V carefully to make sure he didn't fall as you stood up. "I wasn't aware you own it." 

"For years." You tilted your head slightly, Molly surely couldn't be that old based on her physical features but maybe she was just one of those women blessed with eternally young skin. "You have a calming touch," she noted, motioning down to V who had managed to crawl into your pocket finally, his head just poking out enough to be seen while remaining far enough inside that he could rest on the material and shut his eyes without falling. "He's never calmed so quickly on a new person, let alone fallen asleep on someone just before dinner time." 

"He's probably just really tired." You reasoned. "And my hoodie lining is really soft and warm. I doubt it's anything to do with me." 

"Hm, I disagree." She giggled. You could only smile. "Well it seems as if V has no intention of letting you leave our home anytime soon so how do you feel about staying for dinner?" 

"Uh..." 

"There's plenty of food and we love having guests, Suga already likes you and he's the hardest to please." 

"Suga?" 

"Oh, the Birman that didn't leave your side during the session." It took you a minute to understand what exactly she was talking about but then you remembered the silver-haired cat that followed you around the room lazily when you got up to greet another animal or grab a toy for one of them.  
Birman was the cat's breed you realised and you let your lips turn up into a smile. 

"I liked him, he made me feel special." You confessed.

"You must be indeed, Suga has never acted like that with anyone but me and that even took me weeks to build such a bond with him." She laughed. "You certainly are special, Y/N, I knew it from the moment I first met you." You blushed but found yourself unable to form a response so looked down shyly. "Anyway, dinner?" 

"I'm a fussy eater." 

"I made a range, I'm sure there will be something to your tastes." You looked hesitant so Molly offered you a comforting smile. "I know you have anxieties, Y/N and you have trouble with new circumstances but you will not overcome your problems if you don't face them." When you didn't respond for a few seconds as you were busy mentally weighing up the pros and cons of staying, Molly took a few steps closer to reach out and place her hand on your lower arm.  
"I'll go into the dining room and if you decide to join us, just come on in, I'll set up space for you." 

You watched Molly disappear into the room down the hall and you almost turned and left, your hands already reaching into your pocket to remove V but then for some reason, an image of a fluffy silver cat popped into your mind and you shut the door.  
Your feet took you through the apartment and next thing you knew you were stood just inside of the dining room.  
For some reason, your eyes landed straight on the cat from your memories. He looked over and instantly jumped down from his space on the windowsill to saunter over and weave between your ankles, rubbing against you affectionately. A smile lifted your lips and you crouched to stroke him. The second you were low enough, he hissed at your jumper and the next second, V was scampering out from your pocket and across the room.  
"Ah, be nice, Suga." You scolded automatically. Suga looked up at you, what looked like a hint of betrayal flashing in his eyes before walking tot he table. He sat next to one of the many empty chairs and it was only then that you noticed that two young men were sat up to the table with Molly.  
"Oh." You flushed noticing their eyes on you.

"Come sit, Y/N, I think Suga has picked a seat for you." Molly giggled. You nodded and shuffled over to sit on the chair Suga was tucked against. He curled up around your feet on the floor under the table out of sight.  
"These are two of my tenants." Molly introduced, motioning to the males who both smiled warmly at you. "Jimin and Jungkook." You only smiled at them, unable to try and form words of greeting. They didn't seem bothered and simply looked over at the doorway, almost in perfect sync. Curiously, you looked over too to find a large dog entering the room.

"You're late, Monie." Molly scolded. Monie looked at Molly instead of staring at you and trudged over to nuzzle her in apology. "Monie is a wolfdog." She stated and you took in the animal before you. You could certainly see wolf features but had never heard of the breed. "Sometimes they're called hybrids but wolfdog is the most commonly used term." 

"I used to love wolves." You commented offhandedly and Molly smiled. "I still think they're beautiful." You added as an afterthought while watching Monie walk around the table out of the sight. You heard excited barking and tilted your head, not having expected the sound from such a rough looking dog. 

"That was Hobi," Molly announced as if reading your mind. Your features relaxed and you smiled lightly. 

"Where's Little Prince?" Jungkook questioned with a grin. 

"In his hidey hole, didn't you see?" Jimin replied with a giggle. You noticed his hand moving around his lap and he would glance down now and then but you didn't question it. You only hoped he wasn't doing anything inappropriate at the dinner table. 

"Oh." Jungkook jumped up and rushed tot he corner to crouch down. You didn't see what he was doing but heard him whispering before he returned upright and turned, a creature you easily recognised in his hands. "Meet our new friend, Little Prince." He cooed and you could've sworn the hedgehog glared but quickly little, dark eyes turned on you and they sparkled in the light. 

"Are all these animals yours?" You asked, in awe at the variety of pets Molly kept. 

"Well, I look after them, I don't own them," Molly answered easily, reaching her hands out across the table. Jungkook carefully handed over Little Prince who Molly cradled affectionately on her lap. "They all came to me at times of need and I instantly grew attached and vowed to protect them." You nodded in understanding and looked over when you saw something pale pop up from Jimin's lap. It was a pair of big ears with playful eyes in between. Relief washed through your body when you realised that Jimin had been petted V and not something else.

"I think there needs to be more people in the world like you." The words left your lips without you realising but you didn't take them back. You genuinely believed your words. 

"Do you look after any animals?" Jimin enquired and you shook your head.

"I live with my parents and they're not really animal people. I've wanted to adopt a cat for years but they've never let me." You pouted and for some reason, the two boys opposite you grinned. Molly reached over from her space to your left, a chair left in between you thanks to Suga.

"You're always welcome to come to the shelter and play with Suga." She offered kindly.

"Really?" Your face lit up. "Can I really?" 

"Of course." A bark echoed through the room and she laughed softly. "And Hobi too of course." 

"Of course." You beamed and looked down towards Suga but he was still tucked out of sight. "Thank you, I'd really love that." 

"Do you have a job?" Jimin asked. You looked up and shook your head. "Noona, what about Y/N take that position?" He suggested looking over at the older woman. You followed his attention curiously, wondering what he was talking about.

"I was thinking the same thing little Jiminie." Molly smiled, eyes still on you. You felt odd under her gaze as if she was seeing deep within you and revealing anything about your person and past to herself. But strangely enough, it wasn't entirely uncomfortable just, odd.  
"Would you like to work for me, Y/n?" Your eyes bulged and the three laughed at your reaction.

"Are you serious?" She nodded. "You don't even know me. I have no experience. I don't know if I'd be any good here. What if the other animals don't like me?" 

"Suga likes you." Jungkook giggled. "Everyone here will love you, Y/N." 

"I'll pay you well above minimum wage and benefits can be discussed," Molly said, leaning her chin on her palm as her elbow pressed against the table top. "What kind of benefits would you be looking for? What do I need to offer you to get you to accept the job, Y/N?" 

"I-I...none." You licked your lips and glanced across at the two males, finding V's eyes still glued to you as if he was waiting for something. Your attention turned back to Molly. "I don't need any benefits, spending time here would be enough for me." 

"Are you accepting the job?" Jimin sounded a little too excited considering he had just met you but you found his joy contagious. A smile lifted your lips as you nodded. Jimin and Jungkook both grinned at you and you felt Suga's tail wrap around your ankle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr on my shared account CheeMiWritesKpop


	3. Chapter 3

It was only the day after accepting the job that you found yourself at the shelter once again. Molly had insisted you take the afternoon shift, working from 12-5 to not overexert yourself due to it being your first job. You already loved having Molly as your boss, she understood you entirely without a word having to pass your lips.

"You made it!" You jolted at the voice.   
You were stood outside of the shelter, staring up at it, finding something about its appearance weird. There was a niggling in the back of your mind that told you something didn't add up but for the life of you, you couldn't figure out what.  
"Ah, sorry Noona." Jungkook was stood in the then open entrance door of the shelter, beaming at you. You noticed he had his fingers tucked into Hobi's collar and from the way Hobi's tail wagged madly at the sight of you, you imagined that Jungkook was holding the dog back from charging at you excitedly. 

"Of course." You responded with a smile. "Hey Hobi." you greeted walking closer and Jungkook finally let Hobi go. The animal immediately bounced over and jumped up at you, trying to lick your face but he couldn't quite get there. You had a feeling that he could probably jump higher but was holding himself back. Surely a dog wouldn't be able to read you and know such a thing wouldn't sit well with you. You really were reading too far into the actions of these shelter animals.   
"How are you always so happy?" You giggled, rubbing his head as you followed Jungkook into the building. 

"Molly put me in charge of showing you around!" Jungkook announced, leading you back past the empty reception desk.  
Hobi trotted alongside you into the staff room that was directly opposite the therapy room. You had to prevent your excited coo as you saw V and Little Prince playing with a small plastic ball together on the coffee table. 

"That's so cute." You commented and Jungkook giggled. At the sound, V looked over, his wide eyes instantly finding you before he bounded over. As soon as he was by you, he practically tried to climb up your leg. With a giggle of amusement, you crouched down and took the fennec fox into your arms. He nuzzled your jaw and clambered up onto your shoulder. You jolted when he suddenly pounced into your hood but you couldn't reach him even if you wanted to so you let him do what he wanted.

"Jungkook!" A male voice called from outside of the room somewhere making you jump in surprise. "Kook!" 

"Yeah! Wait a second hyung!" Jungkook called back. "I'm showing Y/N where to put her bag!" Jungkook motioned over to the lockers on the back wall. "Jimin cleaned up a locker for you this morning, he put your name on it too." He held out a key that you took and inspected. "Your name is on your locker. Make yourself comfortable a minute, I'll be back." He smiled warmly then rushed off. Hobi followed after Jungkook curiously.

For a few seconds, you eyed the key in your hand, turning it over kind of in shock. Of course, you knew logically you'd be getting a locker, you had seen them when Molly gave you a tour of the shelter before you went home the night before. But, having your own key in your hand really solidified the fact that you had a job. Someone had liked you enough to offer you a position in their company. They saw something in you and wanted that in their business. You had no idea what Molly saw in you, what anyone ever saw in you actually, and you doubted you'd ever understand. But, you didn't want Molly to regret hiring you and giving you a chance. You wanted to prove to her, to everyone, that you could do this. You could have a job and do well. You could make something of yourself and make yourself useful.

Approaching the lockers, you quickly found the one with your name written on the removable tag. You assumed Jimin had made it and smiled at the little doodle of a cat face beside your name.   
Just as you were about to lift your key, you realised the door was already open slightly so you simply reached for the handle and pulled. 

A shriek of surprise left your lips when you saw movement in the bottom of your locker once open. The mass abruptly moved and you took note of the silver fur.  
"Oh! Suga!" You breathed out in relief. "You scared me!" You laughed lightly, moving forward to pet the animal that accepted your loving touch with a content purr. "Did I ruin your nap?" You asked with a barely there frown. "Sorry buddy, Jimin must've not realised this is your nap spot when he gave me this locker." Suga stopped purring and moved away from your hand so you retracted it and moved aside, allowing him to jump down and saunter away from you and out of the room.  
A real frown tugged your lips down as you watched Suga walk away from you. You didn't understand why it hurt you to see him dismiss you like that but the fact of the matter is, it made an ache appear in your chest.

V moved in your hood and appeared perched on your shoulder, nuzzling your ear cutely. Your frown left as giggles left your lips.

"Ah, that tickles." You spoke, reaching up to move him from your shoulder and into your grasp. He pawed at you gently as you moved him from your body and placed him down on the floor. A whine left his mouth as he tried to climb up your legs.   
"I'm just taking my hoodie off, V, I'll pick you back up." Surprisingly, that seemed to appease the fox and he settled down into a sitting position to watch you patiently. You tilted your head slightly, confused with his understanding behaviour but quickly shook it off and removed your bag and hoodie to place them into your locker. You closed the compartment and locked it before slipping your key onto your key ring and pocketing the item.   
"Come on then." You spoke to V, walking over to the couch. He padded over behind you, immediately jumping up onto the furniture when you sat. Without hesitation, he climbed up onto your lap and curled up as close to your stomach as possible. A smile lifted your lips and you petted the little animal. 

Suddenly, you remembered seeing V playing with a hedgehog earlier so your gaze lifted to see the same animal as earlier still on the coffee table. He was staring right at you. 

"Oh, hi." You greeted. "I got distracted, I'm sorry." You didn't know why you were apologising to him as if he understood, why you spoke to all the animals like that but you couldn't stop yourself. Something in you had always told you to talk to animals like humans, children at the least, but that same something was telling you to talk to these shelter animals like adults.

Slowly, Little Prince made his way over to sit on the table as close to you as possible without falling over the edge. 

"Do you want to be petted?" You asked, cautiously holding your hand out towards him. He shuffled slightly towards you so you took that as the go ahead. As carefully as you could manage, you touched the creature, not wanting to scare him or hurt yourself. Never in your life did you imagine you'd see a live hedgehog let alone pet one so you weren't entirely sure what to do. You had of course seen both Jungkook and Molly interact with the animal the previous night so you tried to use as much as your memory to help but quickly, you felt yourself just following your instincts and touching him easily without fear.

Your attention was entirely on the two animals by you, a hand on each, that you didn't notice another presence join you until a mass of silver fur pounced onto the table beside Little Prince and made you jump back.

"Suga!" A scolding voice spoke from the doorway. It was the same male that called Jungkook earlier. You turned your head, straightening up in your seat meaning you had to stop giving Little Prince attention.   
"Hi." The male greeted with a dimpled smile. "Sorry I took Kook away, he was supposed to clean out the bird cages earlier but has been doing everything possible to avoid his chores." He chuckled, walking over to you so you stood up, cradling V in your arms. The man didn't even seem surprised to find the fox in your arms. "I'm Namjoon." He held out his hand which you took after arranging V better so you wouldn't drop him with only one arm holding him.

"Y/N." You replied with a shy smile, shaking his hand quickly. He smiled wider and let you have your hand back. "Is Jungkook not coming back then? He said he was going to show me what to do." 

"Not until he's finished but, I can show you everything until he's done with his chores." He offered. You nodded slightly. "Great! I'll show you the feeding room first seeing as it's lunchtime!" 

"Okay." You agreed and carefully placed V down. He whined and you frowned, wanting to pick him back up but you didn't want to be distracted so you turned back to Namjoon. 

"This way." Namjoon lead you down the hall. There was only one door between the staff room and feeding room and the sign on the door told you it was the toilets, Namjoon stated the fact for you anyway, just in case you didn't notice the sign. You had no idea if Namjoon knew Molly gave you the grand tour last night but decided to not point out that fact. To be honest, you had been a bit overwhelmed during the tour so figured a little refresher wouldn't hurt.

The feeding room was pretty much the same size as the staff room if only a little narrower and the back half was a kitchen resembling that of a top of the range restaurants, except with two giant refrigerators to the side.  
The front half of the room was dotted with feeding bowls on mats ready to be filled with food for the animals to come in and consume. 

"Pretty much every day when you arrive, you'll be on feed duty," Namjoon stated with a small chuckle, walking to the back of the room so you followed. "We do it in two rounds, feeding the cats first then the dogs in here." He informed, opening a cupboard to pull out a big bag of dry cat food. "They have dry food at lunch and wet for dinner but you don't have to worry about that." He smiled reassuringly and motioned to a jug on the side. "You can be on water duty today. Just fill up the jug and pour some almost two thirds into every blue bowl. Blue for drink, red for food." 

"Okay." You walked over to the jug. "Just from the tap?" 

"Yep, from the tap." He confirmed so you filled the jug quickly and started your task. 

As you worked alongside Namjoon, both filling the bowls, a familiar cat strutted in and started to weave around your ankles making you smile. 

"Ah yeah, you'll have to feed Molly's animal's too." Namjoon realised. "They each have their own labelled bowls. They're the only ones that can tell if others have used their bowls." He chuckled, putting the cup he was using to pour out feed into the bowls back into the bag and picking the bag up. "Molly said you don't like birds?" He asked walking over to the kitchen and as you were done with your water duties, you joined him, putting the jug on the draining board to dry despite knowing it would be in use again soon.

"Uh, not really, having things flying around my head puts me on edge." You confessed. 

"I get that, it can be unnerving, you never know what they're going to do." He laughed and you nodded, glad he understood what you meant. "I'll let you fill up Suga's bowl, he might actually be less picky if you do it." 

"He's picky, huh?" You mused, smirking down at the cat, not at all surprised by the news. "I thought he'd be one of those cats." You could've sworn the animal glared up at you before backing away from the counter to pounce up on top. "Is he allowed up here?" You asked, looking over at Namjoon who was then at the open fridge, pulling out a large tub of fresh, cut fruit. 

"Yeah, so long as none of the other cats are in here or they'll think they can too." 

"Special treatment, hm?" You hummed, stroking the cat who purred the instant your hands touched him. At the sound, Namjoon stopped and looked over. He had known Suga for a long time and he had never seen him so easily sated, especially to purr so loudly from the second he was touched. Namjoon was impressed, to say the least.

"So, Suga eats half a tin of tuna with some homemade crackers." He informed, standing beside you, placing the tub on the counter. Suga didn't even acknowledge him. "All of his stuff is labelled and because he's a spoiled little kitty, he has his own cupboard." Suga looked up at Namjoon with what you could only describe as a glare. Namjoon grinned and looked at you. "Will you be okay for a minute? I'll check on Jungkook and give him this to feed the birds and then I'll let the cats in." 

"Yeah, I'll be fine." You assured with a smile. Namjoon's smile widened and he patted Suga who hissed making Namjoon chuckle before leaving with the tub. 

"Let's get you fed." You spoke, removing your hands from Suga to locate his cupboard that helpfully had his name on the front. You noticed three other cupboards had names on, two per cupboard. You recognised four names as Molly's animals that lived with her but the other two you didn't. "Nochu and Chim." You read. "Does Molly have more animals?" With a shrug, you opened Suga's cupboard and quickly grabbed his feeding bowl, it had two compartments and you knew one was for water. 

Suga was well behaved while you made up his lunch. He didn't even attempt to approach and eat from the bowl like you thought he would. 

"Ah, you're such a good boy." You cooed proudly, reaching over to press a kiss to his head before turning to pick up his bowl. "Where do you want this?" Suga jumped down from the side and climbed up into an empty open front cupboard hidden from view. "In there?" You crouched down and realised there was a feeding mat on the shelf already set up and it had his name on it. "You really are a spoiled kitty, huh?" You placed down the bowl. Suga nuzzled your hand affectionately. "Is this you saying thank you?" He meowed and you grinned. "No problem buddy." You scratched his chin then got up to fetch the jug. Suga had started to eat but when you leant over, he moved aside to allow you to pour some water into his drink bowl. He meowed at you again before lapping up some liquid then turning his attention back to his food. "Cute." 

Namjoon returned shortly, followed by five cats that all went straight to a mat each to consume their lunch. 

While the felines ate, Namjoon showed you around the kitchen and taught you what each of Molly's animal's had for lunch. 

"Who are Nochu and Chim?" You asked curiously.

"Ah, yeah, you didn't meet them." He smiled. "They're both birds." Your features fell slightly and he laughed. "It's okay, you won't have to feed them but if you ever do morning duty, you will have to prepare the bird food. Mostly it's cutting up fresh fruit every day. At least it's not feeding the reptiles, live insects are not nice to feed." 

"Ew." You replied without thinking making him snort out a laugh. He quickly lifted his hands to cover his mouth, cheeks tinging in embarrassment. "Don't be embarrassed, I'm not judging you because you snorted." You giggled, bravely reaching out to tug his hands down. 

"It's awkward, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." 

"Nobody means to snort, Namjoon." You pointed out and he blushed again, realising you were right. "But luckily for you, it was cute." Your cheeks tinged and you looked away, finding Suga sat on the floor by your feet, looking up at you. "Oh! Are you finished already?" You were glad for the distraction and crouched down to retrieve his empty dish. 

"You're feeding him every day from now on, the shit refuses to eat when I make his lunch," Namjoon grumbled and you giggled. 

"I'll happily make his lunch every day." You reached down to pet Suga as you passed to reach the sink.

You made short work of cleaning up the dish. When the other cats had finished, Namjoon ushered them back out of the room and you cleaned up the empty dishes all the while Suga sat on the counter, watching your every move.

For the rest of the day, Suga followed you around, demanding attention whenever you had a spare few seconds, not that you complained. He made you feel loved and appreciated and you could never turn that down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr on my shared account CheeMiWritesKpop


	4. Chapter 4

Three weeks. Less than a month, that's all the time your mind allowed you to go into work every day happy before it decided to ruin the uphill run you were having.

It came to no surprise to you that when you entered the shelter, Hobi was already sat in the middle of the foyer, facing the door waiting for you.   
As soon as you stepped inside, he jumped up and bounced over to greet you excitedly, like he did every single day. But today, you didn't have the energy to return the enthusiasm like he had pretty much trained you to. Usually, you'd crouch down and accept all the kisses he could give before you needed to make your way to get ready for work. Today though, you gently pushed him away, your features not changing from the expressionless mask you took many years to perfect. Since you woke that morning, you had been preparing to go into work and fake at least apathy because you doubted you could even begin to attempt to fake anything even minutely resembling any form of happiness.

"Sorry Hobi, not today." You mumbled, giving a little scratch behind his left ear as a form of apology as you walked past him. 

Hobi just stayed there in the foyer instead of following after you like usual. 

After putting your belongings in your locker and slipping your new lanyard with your ID and locker key attached over your head, you went straight to the kitchen that was empty. 

Namjoon always did the lunch time feed with you before he left to have his own lunch upstairs. You had discovered that it wasn't only Jungkook and Jimin that lived with Molly. Namjoon also lived upstairs along with Molly's partner, a man called Seokjin that you hadn't met and a few other nameless and faceless people. When you first found out how many people lived upstairs, along with all seven animals, you were far beyond shocked and confused. Surely the building was far too small and conditions were cramped but everyone you met from the apartment insisted there was plenty of space for them all and they loved living there. It still bugged you, it didn't seem possible to have so many bodies living in the space available but, you stopped worrying over it and dropped the subject.

Today, you hadn't stopped to greet Hobi or hang around the staff room where V usually ran to you as soon as he realised you were in so you were early for feed duty.

Honestly, you were kind of glad Namjoon wasn't with you, it meant you had more work to do and less time to get sucked into the dark recesses of your mind. Also, no Namjoon resulted in not having to explain your unusual mood or try to hide it. You could get lost in your task without worrying about outward appearance.

Earlier than usual, Suga appeared on the counter, eyes trained on you curiously.  
"You're usually still napping." You mumbled offhandedly upon noticing the mass of silver fur perched on the side. "Did someone wake you?" He meowed and you sighed. "I'm just about to do yours." Something in you told you that Suga wasn't asking for his food, he usually didn't eat for another almost 40 minutes and he was a cat of routine you had quickly learned. But, you didn't want to even try to understand what he wanted so you quietly set about to make his lunch.  
For the first time, when you placed his dish on his eating shelf, he didn't jump down to clamber onto the low shelf and begin his feed. He just stayed on the counter and meowed at you again.  
"What? I don't know what you want from me, Suga." You stated simply, turning to approach the fridge. You checked that the fruit was already cut for the birds and it was but that didn't surprise you, Jimin was in charge of the birds and always lovingly prepared their food every day, making sure there was enough to go around and the animals got all the necesary daily nutrients.  
Even when you turned back around to go into Hobi and Monie's cupboard, not that Monie ever had lunch in the shelter, to be honest you hadn't even seen him since the first day you met him and figured that he spent all his time lazing in the apartment, Suga was still on the counter top, eyes glued to you.  
"What?" You grumbled pulling out Hobi's bright green dish to place on the counter. Another sound left Suga's throat and you rolled your eyes. It sounded like the feline was complaining but you obviously didn't understand what he wanted. "Why are you complaining?" Once you had filled the dish with water, you placed it down on the floor, in Hobi's usual space.  
For some reason, Hobi only consumed water at lunch feed but when all the animals had finished, Hobi trotted into the kitchen and waited patiently for his food.  
"You're a cat, you eat, sleep and laze around, you have nothing to complain about. I made you your lunch how you like it. Eat it or don't, it's your choice but stop whining, I'm not in the mood to deal with fussy cats today." Suga whined loudly one final time then jumped down and walked away, leaving you alone in the kitchen.

Right on schedule, Namjoon walked into the kitchen, watching the cat walk away full of attitude.  
"Did you have a fight or something?" He joked, pointing over his shoulder while walking over to you.

"He's not eating." You replied simply, trying not to make your tone give away your mood but, Namjoon caught on instantly. 

"Maybe it's because he knows something is wrong." He suggested softly. You glanced at him to see his features were gentle and concerned. "You weren't in the staff room, V is on the couch whining, I'm surprised you haven't heard him yet." You stopped your movements to focus your hearing. But you could only heard the dogs barking as they played in the main room.

"I can't hear anything but the dogs." You replied simply. "Guess I need my hearing checked."

"Ah nah, I just have really good hearing." He chuckled awkwardly. "Why don't you go see V? He'll be sulking until you go give him his daily cuddles."

"I'm busy." Your short, clipped answer made Namjoon frown but, he didn't push it. Clearly, you didn't want to give your attention out, he had already seen Hobi sulking around the foyer. At first, Namjoon assumed you hadn't made it in or were running late. But upon seeing Suga walking away from you and the whirlwind of dark emotion in the back of your eyes, Namjoon knew something was wrong that made you not want to give any affection or attention out.

"Okay." He tried to sound a little chirpy, in hopes of not dragging you down any further. "You've already done both of your jobs." He noted, looking over the filled bowls on the floor. "I'll go get the cats." 

"Okay, I'll make up V's lunch." Namjoon nodded, shooting you a smile before leaving the room. 

It didn't take long to make V's lunch, he was only small so he didn't eat much. You were already headed to the staff room with V's dish to give to him knowing he always ate in there anyway when Namjoon reentered the kitchen.   
V didn't seem to like eating with the other animals. Molly said it was because he was the only one of his kind there and he had no-one to protect his food from the others while he ate. If another animal was in the room while he ate and it wasn't one of Molly's, he'd climb into his bowl and sit protectively over his food, growling at any animal that got close. It always lead to needing to give him a bath and V was very particular about who bathed him and what with. It was a lot easier for everyone if V was simply fed in private.

"Lunch time." You announced as you entered. The second he heard your voice, he jumped up and started yapping excitedly. "I'm not here to play, just to give you food." V whined loudly and looked up at you with wide eyes that seemed to plead you. "No, I'm not in the mood, V. I'm only bringing you food then I'm leaving." V backed up when you put his dish down and sat down. While you turned and walked to the door, V started to cry. With a groan, you turned and stalked over. You crouched next to the table and picked him up. He whimpered at you and struggled in your hands to try and nuzzle your face but you held him too far away. "Look, I'm in a very shitty mood today, I know you don't understand that so I have no idea why I'm trying to explain myself to you but it means no playing, no cuddling for today. I should be fine tomorrow and then I'll make it up, I'll wear my comfy hoodie and carry you all day if that's what you want but today, I'm not going to give you attention, it's nothing personal." He whined again, sounding more desperate. A sigh left your lips and you hugged him as tight as you felt possible without hurting him and placed a kiss on his head before putting him down. "Now eat, when I come back, I want that bowl empty, V." And then, you got up and left. 

Practically as soon as you stepped out of the staff room, you almost tripped over an animal.

"Fucks sake!" You hissed, trying to right yourself. A glare was on your face when you turned to see who caught your ankles. It was Suga and he was already staring up at you. "Are you fucking serious?!" You snapped. He jumped back at your loud tone. "What is wrong with you today?!" Just looking at him was making your anger flare so you walked away quickly before you yelled at him even more.

***

There was only an hour of your shift left and that meant you had just finished cleaning up the main room ready for the evening therapy session while all the animals were out of the room.

You felt a bit better after losing yourself in cleaning. You always refused to admit cleaning was cathartic because you honestly hated cleaning most of the time and didn't want to confess that it actually helped you in fear of your parents trying to make you clean more at home.

Looking around the room, you were satisfied with your efforts and gripped the trolley of cleaning supplies ready to leave. But upon facing the doors, you found Suga sat there, blocking the way and once again staring up at you.

Since you yelled at him, you hadn't once seen him and it made you feel so damn guilty. Suga never usually left your side, he followed you from room to room, nudging up against you and all in all staying as close to you as possible without riding around on your shoulder. The fact you had barely seen him today really proved you had been pretty terrible to him and your heart sank into your stomach.

Your lips pulled down into a frown and you felt your bottom lip tremble and tears slowly welling in your eyes.  
"I'm sorry." You spoke, stepping out from behind the trolley to bend down. You were surprised that Suga trotted straight over to you and let you pick him up and hold him against your chest. "I'm having a bad day and I shouldn't take it out on you, you've done nothing wrong." Suga meowed and wriggled from your grasp. You watched as he strutted over to the beanbag you sat on during the session you attended, the day you met him. He sat on it and stared at you expectantly. "What?" He meowed and pawed at the seat. "Do you want me to sit with you?" Another meow and he sat still. "I can't, I've got work to do." You sighed and got up, rubbing at your eyes with the backs of your hands. Suga made a loud noise that could only be described as yelling. "Don't yell at me." You warned, looking over your shoulder at him. "I have work to do." As you made your way to the doors with your trolley, Suga took up whining and yowling loudly and repeatedly. "Fine!" You caved, throwing your hands up in exasperation. "But only ten minutes." Suga fell silent. As soon as you sat down, he climbed up onto your lap and nuzzled your chin. "I know, I've missed you too." Another sigh left your lips and you gave in, lifting your hands to stroke the cat. He purred immediately, the deep and full kind that he only gave out when your hands touched him. You knew that because all the staff had told you so many times.

A handful of minutes passed with the only sound in the room being Suga's happy purring. Until your sniffles broke the air. Suga moved at your sudden sound and looked up at you. A curious sound left his mouth and your sniffles turned into real crying, tears spilling down your cheeks.

"Ah fuck." You cursed, trying to wipe your face dry but more tears fell. "I knew this would happen if I gave in." You whimpered. "This is why I've been avoiding you all today." You didn't know why you were explaining your tears, your emotions to a cat but you couldn't seem to stop the words flowing from your lips. "It's really fucking sad but the truth is, this is the most affection I get and it's from a fucking cat." You choked out a humourless laugh that sounded more like a sob. "If you were a human, you wouldn't give me any attention let alone be so happy that I'm giving you mine. You wouldn't care about me. I only have my parents, no-one else. My friends are at uni and barely talk to me, they're too busy with their own lives. And a boyfriend? You can forget about it." Suga nudged your elbow as you rubbed harshly at your eyes to try and stop the tears. You took it as he wanted his pets back so you dried your hands on your jeans so you could return to stroking him. You didn't even notice he didn't purr.  
"I'm usually okay with that, with being single but lately, I keep seeing all these people in relationships and I want that. I want a guy to have interest in me but no-one does. I'm not desirable, even to blind men. Look at me, I'm nothing special. Everywhere I look, there stands a girl that is better than me in everyway so I understand why I'm single still-" You sniffled, feeling your tears slowing. Talking really did help, even if you were talking to an animal that couldn't respond or offer you comfort on purpose. "Why would anyone pick me when there's all these other girls there? I'm nothing, I doubt I will ever be. But still, I crave affection I can't get." Your eyes had been trained across the room, staring off while you talked so you were surprised to find Suga staring up at you when you looked down at him. "If only guys were like you, Suga, maybe then I'd be able to find one that would give me the time of day." You scoffed and wiped your face one final time before letting out a heavy breath. "Okay, times up, I need to get back to work before someone comes looking for me and finds me slacking off." Suga whined when you moved him from your lap but you ignored his complaints.   
"I've promised tomorrow to V but the next day, I'm all yours, buddy." You promised. 

Suga just sat and watched you leave with your trolley.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr on my shared account CheeMiWritesKpop


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's a "posting schedule"? I don't know her.

"I'm sure she didn't do it on purpose." Hoseok's positive words did nothing to soothe Yoongi's anger. "I'm sure she just forgot that she's not working today." 

"It's Sunday, she never works Sunday, she knows that." Yoongi grumbled, stuffing his hands further into his hoodie pocket as they walked along the path towards the park. 

"She also forgets what day it is on a regular basis." Hoseok pointed out with a chuckle as memories of you questioning the day raced through his mind. 

"She managed to keep her promise to V, why couldn't she manage to keep her promise to me?! I should be more important!" Yoongi kicked a stone and watched it jump and roll across the grass as they entered the park.   
Hoseok perked up at the scenery. He always loved the park, it was no doubt related to the dog DNA running through his body.  
Yoongi on the other hand would always much rather curl up on a shelf and sleep due to his cat DNA.   
The only reason he was out for a walk was because Hoseok had literally picked him up and carried him out of the apartment where he had been sulking angrily since he realised you wouldn't be in for work that day for his promised day of attention. They were already outside by the time Yoongi changed from his cat form, Suga. Hoseok of course had let the door shut behind them and Yoongi didn't have a key to let himself in so he reluctantly followed Hoseok away from the shelter.  
"I'm the one that made her sit down and spill what was upsetting her! I should be her priority!" And then for some reason, Yoongi looked up and he stropped in his tracks.   
There sitting on a soft blanket, reading a book with headphones on was you. 

"What?" Hoseok tilted his head curiously at Yoongi then followed his line of sight to see your familiar figure enjoying your reading. "Y/N!" He gasped, bouncing forward to go talk to you. 

"What're you doing?!" Yoongi hissed, pulling Hoseok back roughly.

"Going to say hi!" 

"You can't do that! She doesn't know who you are, idiot! As far as she's aware, you're just some annoying dog that puts their ball germs onto her face everyday." 

"What?!" Hoseok looked at Yoongi. "I don't lick my balls then lick her!" 

"She doesn't know that." 

"Has she said something to you?!" Hoseok gasped. "I don't want her to think I'm gross like that!" Yoongi just rolled his eyes and didn't answer.

Truth be told, you had never said anything about Hobi and his balls to Yoongi but Hoseok didn't need to know that. If it stopped Hobi licking you, Yoongi would let Hosoek believe that you thought his dog form did such a thing.

"I'm going to go talk to her." Yoongi decided.

"But you just said-"

"I'm not going to tell her I'm Suga." Yoongi scoffed, giving Hoseok a look. "I just...she thinks she's undesirable, that no guy would want to date her. I want her to have some male attention, if only for today." 

"Oh, then I should say hi too!" 

"No." Yoongi hissed, glaring at his friend who frowned.

"Why not? Surely two guys are better than one." 

"No. Just me." Hoseok stared at Yoongi a few seconds, not understanding why his friend was acting that way then suddnely, it hit him and a shit eating grin stretched his cheeks. "What? Why're you looking at me like that? What? What?" 

"You don't want her to like me." Hoseok sang. "You want her to like you only because you liiike her. You have a crush on Y/N!" He teased, jumping around excitedly. Yoongi tried to argue but Hoseok took one look at his red ears and pink cheeks and started to clap happily, dancing around his elder. 

"Fuck off. Go home." Yoongi finally spoke, pushing Hoseok away from him and turning his attention back to you. You were still absorbed in your book. 

"If you want some alone time, you only have to say so, hyung." Hoseok giggled and before Yoongi could retort, Hoseok was running off, screeching excitedly about how he was going to tell everyone how Yoongi was in love with you. Yoongi grumbled in annoyance and made a mental note to slip chocolate into Hoseok's dinner.   
Chocolate didn't deal damage to Hoseok like it did dogs as he still had a lot of human DNA but it certainly didn't agree with him. If Hoseok consumed chocolate, he'd spend the rest of the day rushing to the toilet with stomach cramps and minor auditory hallucinations between bathroom visits.

Yoongi gave himself a little bit of time to gather himself before approaching you casually. He wanted to crawl onto the blanket and curl up with his head on your lap, his favourite spot since he first had the honour of perching there, but he knew that would be too weird and you'd freak out. To be fair, anyone would freak out if a stranger did such a thing but Yoongi didn't want to cuddle up to any random stranger. He wanted to cuddle up to you.  
He'd never admit it to Hoseok or one of the others but, Yoongi had easily grown attached to you. From the first day he met you, he was pulled to you. He tried to ignore it but it lasted all of five minutes until Hobi clambered all over you and Yoongi felt white hot jealously pooling in his chest. Even when Hobi left, his scent was all over your lap so Suga didn't take the spot despite wanting to. Ever since then, whenever the opportunity arised to take the place on your lap, Suga didn't hesitate to claim it, rubbing his scent all over you in a subtle attempt to claim not only your lap but all of you.

By the time Yoongi stood beside your blanket, you were already looking up at him curiously. You had happened to look up and around as he approached and realised he was headed straight for you. He saw the panic settle in your eyes due to a strange man making his way to you but, he also saw curiosity as your gaze travelled up and down his form subtley. Your orbs returned to his face and a slight smile of approval twitched your lips upwars. If he hadn't spent the better part of a month in your shadow, watching your every move and learning all about your habits, he wouldn't have even noticed the minor movement.

When he stopped, you removed your headphones and tilted your head slightly but you said nothing, waiting for him to speak first.

"Uh, hi." He finally spoke after just standing and staring for a good ten seconds. Now that he was right by you, able to communicate, he didn't know what to say. "I'm Yoongi." He thrust his hand towards you.

"Uh...I'm Y/N." You shook his hand after getting up onto your knees to reach. Yoongi had to hold back from making a pleased sound at the feel of your familiar hand touching his own for the first time. He had always wondered how it'd feel but he didn't think he'd get a chance to find out.   
When your hands parted, you lowered back down, sitting on your feet.

"I'm sorry, I really didn't think this through." He admitted, laughing nervously as he scratched behind his ear, a nervous habit he had developed as a child. "I just saw you sat here and really wanted to come over and introduce myself." 

"Oh, okay." You smiled lightly, cheeks tinging pink and nodded, looking away shyly. 

"You probably want me to go, I'm probably ruining your reading time. I'm sure your book is much more interesting than I am. Bye-" Just as Yoongi started to turn and walk away, you spoke up.

"It's about feline diet." You announced. Yoongi looked back at you curiously so you lifted the book to show him the cover. A cat's diet.

"Oh." His lips turned up into a small smile and you smiled back. "You like cats?" 

"I do, a lot." Your smile widened and Yoongi couldn't help but smile wider too. "Easily my favourite animal." 

"Out of all the animals?" You nodded and he moved closer slightly. 

"If I could be any animal, I'd definitely be a cat." 

"Why?" 

"They have my dream life, just eating, sleeping and lazing around." Yoongi laughed and you grinned. "What about you?"

"Well, those are my three favourite things to go." Your features lit up and you moved backwards slightly before motioning to the blanket.

"If you want, you can sit." You offered, chewing your bottom lip nervously. Yoongi spotted your fingers fiddling with the book on your lap and he didn't hesitate to sit down, leaving his shoes on the grass beside your own.

You spent three hours sat there with Yoongi, talking about everything and anything, laughing and sharing the snacks you had in your backpack before you left to return home. The only reason you left was because your mum had rang you complaining you were letting your dinner get cold. So Yoongi helped you shake off the blanket and pack it away in your bag. You walked together to the edge of the park where you stood and talked for another twenty minutes, both reluctant to leave the other.   
Another angry phone call prompted you to say goodbye for real that time.

Yoongi found his cheeks stretched with a joyful gummy smile as he strolled back to the shelter, a small scrap of paper with your phone number scrawled down on it, clutched securely in his hand.


	6. Chapter 6

Three months ago, you would've never thought you could be so excited to go to work but you had a job you loved and were eternally grateful for. Your coworkers were all lovely and made you feel so welcomed and accepted from day one. Your boss always invited you over for dinner and referred to you as part of the family. All the animals were so loving and well behaved, you had even met Molly's birds, Nochu and Chim and surprised yourself when you loved them.   
After that, Jimin took you into the bird cage and held your hand the whole time. Of course Suga tried to follow you inside but obviously wasn't allowed in so he sat outside with his back to you as if you had betrayed him.  
So, in the whole shelter, there wasn't a single animal you didn't like but, Suga was always your favourite. He made you feel comfortable. There had always been something familiar about him and the feeling had grown stronger lately but you didn't know why. You chalked it up to bonding with him more since the time you accidentally fell asleep with him on Molly's couch after a rather large dinner one day. Jungkook took photos to try and tease and blackmail you with. But jokes on him, you loved the photos and insisted he send them to you. Your favourite one has been your phone lock screen since then.

"Ah, I'm nervous." You breathed as you gathered your belongings from your locker at the end of your shift. 

"Why?" You jumped at the voice you hadn't expected. Immediately, you span to face the man you had grown so familiar with over the past two months. 

Yoongi was stood just inside of the staff room, bright gummy smile lifting his features and butterflies errupted in your stomach. Seeing that beautiful smile directed your way always made your stomach twist and turn in the very best way.

"Yoongi." You greeted. "When you said you'd pick me up from work, I didn't think you'd come into the staff room." You giggled turning back to your locker to close it up securely, taking your time to give yourself time to let your heart beat return to normal. It had almost worked, until you felt a figure stood closely behind you and fingers wrapped around your wrist. Yoongi turned you to look at him, a soft smile on his features. 

"You've been working since 8am yet you're still so beautiful." His words were soft and full of adoration. Pink dusted your cheeks as he used his free hand to brush our hair back to reveal as much as your face as possible. "I still can't believe you've finally agreed to go on a date with me." 

"Don't say that as if it's my fault we're only now going on one." You replied with a giggle. "I didn't even know you like me until two days ago, Yoongi." 

"I don't understand how, I've never hid my affection for you." He shrugged as if his words were so simple and easy to say but the blush creeping onto his cheeks told you he was playing it very cool and you smiled fondly. He was so cute.

"Guys are never interested in me so I don't know what it looks like. I thought you were treating me like you would any other girl." 

"Y/N, you're the only girl in my life." He stated, giving you a serious look. It wasn't that he was trying to prove anything, just simply stating a fact but your heart still beat that little bit faster.  
The urge to kiss him ran strong in your veins suddenly and your eyes dropped to take in his soft, naturally pouting lips. Before you could embarrass yourself by being caught staring at his lips, you looked away.   
Yoongi had noticed the second your gaze dropped to his lips and he was pretty much trying to telepathically scream at you to kiss him, that he had wanted that for so long already, but you looked away and he sulked internally. 

"So, where are we going?" You asked, breaking the silence that had taken over as you looked back at him. 

"It's a surprise." He grinned and you whined. "I know you hate surprises but, you'll like this, I've been planning it basically since we met that day at the park, I've taken into account your preferences, Y/N." 

"That was two months ago, Yoongi." 

"I know." Yoongi's eyes cast downwards and a blush slid onto his cheeks. "I think that tells you how much I like you." 

"Hmm, maybe as much as I like you." Your words were teasing and his head snapped up to look at you surprised. He never expected you to speak so bravely like that. You simply giggled and reached out to carefully take his hand into yours. Other than the day you met and shook hands, it was the first time you had held one another's hands and you both felt your hearts swell at the gentle, affectionate touch.   
"Let's go, yeah?" 

"Yeah." Yoongi agreed a little breathlessly. Before either of you moved, he adjusted his hand in your own so he could slot his fingers into the gaps between yours. A perfect fit.

***

When Yoongi parked his car, you looked at him strangely. He grinned at you.

"The park?" You asked and he nodded. "Seriously?" 

"What? What's so bad about that?" He pouted.

"No, nothing. I love the park. I've nothing against the park. It's the fact you drove acround the town for half an hour when walking here from the shelter doesn't even take that long." 

"I have my reasons." He defended, taking the key out the ignition and climbing out. You rolled your eyes and got out too, noticing a pout pull his lips as he walked around the front of the car to you. "I was going to open your door for you." 

"You're pouting because of that?" He nodded. "Do you want me to get back in the car?" You joked but it looked at if he was genuinely debating agreeing so you rolled your eyes and shut the door. "No, Yoongi, I'm not going to do that. Next time, I'll wait for you to open the door, if you really want." 

"Okay." He agreed, taking your hand into his as he pressed the button on his car key to lock the vehicle.   
"This way." 

Walking through the park hand in hand with Yoongi felt pretty much perfect to you. Honestly, if he had said that was it, the entire date was just walking around the park with him, you would be more than satisfied. Spending time with Yoongi no matter how little you were doing was always the highlight of your week. You only wished that you could spend more than just three days a week together. Sure, you texted and called daily but, being in his presense felt so right, just being by his side without even a word being passed between you made your heart soar and mind clear of all bad thoughts.   
Yoongi was the best thing that had happened to you in your entire teenage and adult years put together. If you weren't so reluctant to believe in true love, you'd say you were rapidly falling deep in love with Min Yoongi.

"I've never been here when it's so empty." You commented, noticing how few people were around.  
Suddenly, Yoongi tugged your hand, leading you off the path and onto the grass. 

It only took a few seconds for you to notice he was leading you to the same spot where you met. There was a picnic blanket laid out with a basket to one side and a small vase with a single red rose in the centre.   
You held Yoongi's hand that bit tighter so he looked at you.  
At the sight of your eyes trained adoringly onto the set up, a beautiful smile full of genuine happiness curving your lips, Yoongi's nerves melted away. 

"Do you like it?" He asked softly when you both stopped beside the blanket. "I asked a friend to set it up while I picked you up." 

"Is that why you took so long to get here?" You asked, laughing lightly when he nodded. "I love it, Yoongi, it's so sweet, thank you." 

"Wait until after to say that, you haven't tried the food yet." He joked, toeing off his shoes to step onto the blanket.   
You had decided to wear lace up boots that day not knowing you'd need to take them off so you turned and sat down on the blanket while keeping your shoes off the fabric. 

Yoongi had started to take things from the basket so he didn't realise the issue you were having until he looked over at you, realising you were oddly quiet. 

"Here." He offered, putting down the plastic tub to shuffle over and grab your leg. You yelped when he turned you, pulling your foot onto his lap. 

"I can do it." You pointed out as he worked on undoing the laces of your boot. 

"I want to." You rolled your eyes but didn't argue, having someone help even with a simple thing such as taking off your shoes was nice. You took the chance to admire Yoongi's features, not like you didn't do that every time you saw him anyway.  
His lips were pouted in concentration as his slender fingers worked to open the laces. You only just about noticed how he flicked the end of the lace when he removed the first shoe from your foot. You thought nothing of it until he did the same thing with the laces of your other boot when he had it off and by the first. He swatted the lace, watching it swing back and forth from the push. It was like he was hypnotised, pupils clearly following the movement.  
An amused smile lifted your lips.   
As if he suddenly realised what he was doing, Yoongi looked up at you then away abruptly to return his efforts to the basket to set up.

***

It was late but you were reluctant to leave Yoongi's car. Being around Yoongi felt so right and you never wanted it to end.

"Well, I guess I'll go inside now." You sighed, looking through the window towards your house. Yoongi opened his mouth to ask you to stay a little longer but he was concerned he would could across clingy and scare you away. He hummed softly instead.

"Okay." You turned to give him a final small smile then climbed out and shut the door. As he watched you walk up the driveway, Yoongi felt the urge to run after you take over his body and before he knew it, he had darted out of the car and after you.

A yelp of surprise left your lips when your wrist was gripped and your body turned abruptly only for Yoongi to crash his lips to yours. You melted into the kiss.  
It was short. It was sweet. It was everything you wanted. It was perfect. 

"Go on another date with me?" He asked breathlessly when the kiss broke. You could only nod as you stared back at him. There wasn't a single ounce of hesitation in your response and it made his adorable gummy smile appear. "Can I tell everyone we're officially dating?" 

"What?" You laughed and he whined, pouting as you laughing at him. "Who does everyone entail?" 

"Everyone." 

"You're going to tell random strangers on the street we're dating?" He nodded firmly and you giggled. "Okay Yoongi, you can tell whoever you want that we're dating." His smile returned only bigger and brighter before. 

"Tae's going to be so jealous." 

"Who's Tae?" You had never heard Yoongi talk about anyone other than his best friend, a man named Hoseok whose age was inbetween yours and Yoongi's.

"Oh, yeah." He grinned awkwardly. "I forgot you don't know him." You raised your eyebrows at him, silently asking how he could forget such a thing and his arms wound around your waist as a cute smile morphed his features. "You're such a big part of my life, I feel like you've been by my side for so long. It feels like I know everything about you and you me so I forget there's a lot left for you to learn." 

"And you." You corrected and his eyes twinkled with something but you couldn't name it.

"And me." He agreed, chuckling lightly. "I should let you go for real this time, before your parents come out and yell at me for touching their daughter." 

"Mum wouldn't only dad." Yoongi made a face that had you giggling. "But yes, I should go now. Thank you for tonight Yoongi, it's honestly the best night of my life so far." 

"I want to give you many more like it." 

A kiss full of promises of a wonderful future together passed between your lips and then you went into your house.

Yoongi drove back to his own home with sore cheeks from smiling more in one night than he had his whole life.


	7. Chapter 7

It had been only a few days since your first date with Yoongi and you hadn't physically seen him since but you weren't worried. The usual calls and texts still passed between you and he had promised to join you for your lunch break today.

"Tell us more." Jimin encouraged, chin in his palms on the staff room table that he was sat up to while watching you prepare lunch in the little kitchen area.

"Yeah, Y/N, tell us more about your boyfriend." Jungkook almost mocked and you rolled your eyes. Jungkook always made a face when your love life was involved as if he didn't care or want to know but if you ever left him out from your weekly gossip sessions with Jimin, he'd never let you hear the end of it, whining in your ear until you spilled everything to him.

"They're not actually in a relationship like that." Namjoon reminded as he chewed on his sandwich.

Since you had started working longer hours at the shelter, all three males would eat their lunch with you in the staff room instead of going up to the apartment. It often meant only Molly was left to run the shelter for the hour but she never complained, especially as as soon as any of you heard a client or animal calling for attention, one of you would always be up to help her out. Actually, Molly always encouraged the four of you to bond like that, she said it made for a better work environment and she wasn't wrong.

"So, you can date other people?" Jungkook enquired curiously, tilting his head slightly.

"She'd never date you." Namjoon stated around a mouthful of bread and meat. 

"I wasn't asking!" Jungkook gasped, almost glaring at his elder while the three of you laughed at the red splashed on the youngest's features. "I love you Y/N but, not like that." He suddenly turned to you and you slapped on a pout.

"Aw, but I thought we were finally getting somewhere, Kookie." You whined and he groaned, getting up at the sound of the bell in the reception going off, signalling someone had entered and wanted attention.   
Molly was busy washing a new rescue puppy so the desk was unmanned.  
Jungkook walked out of the room with a slight stomp to his steps leaving the three of you in fits of laughter.

"That looks really good, Y/N." Namjoon commented when he stood beside you, looking at the chicken you had just finished cooking on the stove, ready to cut up and toss together with the pasta salad.

"Thank you." You giggled and carefully held up a piece of the chicken you had just cut off. Namjoon beamed and blew on the meat before accepting it into his mouth, practically moaning as the flavours exploded on his tongue.

"God, Seokjin-hyung has some competition in the kitchen." He announced and you giggled again.  
You had heard more about Seokjin, Molly's boyfriend, over the months including that he was an incredible cook but you still hadn't met the man, you wondered if you ever would.

"Noona! Your boyfriend that isn't your boyfriend is here!" Jungkook announced loudly as he re-entered the room. You looked over, ready to tease the boy again but then Yoongi appeared in the room and you suddenly didn't care about whatever you were going to say to Jungkook.

"Hi." You greeted with a dopey smile. Yoongi smiled bright back at you and approached you, not hesitating to give you a soft kiss on the temple that had Jimin flailing silently in his seat, essentially fangirling over the cute moment. "You're early." 

"Are you complaining?" Yoongi smirked and you shook your head making him chuckle. "I wanted to maximise my time with you." 

"Okay." You agreed with another dopey grin.

"Can I ask you something, Yoongi-hyung?" Jungkook called so Yoongi looked over, raising his eyebrows curiously at the fact Jungkook was addressing him. Sure, since you and Yoongi had grown close, he had met the boys that worked with you multiple times and "become" friends with them to keep up appearances that he didn't already know them but, they didn't really initiate conversation with him.

"Uh, sure?" Yoongi replied, moving to lean on the counter beside you so he could see your face as you finished making the lunch for you two to share, while keeping his manners and giving Jungkook attention.

"As Y/N's, boyfriend that isn't her boyfriend-" 

"Her what?" 

"You're dating but not like, in an actual couple relationship, right?" Jimin clarified. Yoongi nodded slowly, as if he was trying to figure out where the conversation was going. Really, his reluctance to agree to the term was simply because he didn't want it to be like that, he wanted all he could have from you but he knew an actual relationship wouldn't work, there was still so much you didn't know and he wasn't ready to tell you anytime soon.

"As in, not exclusive?" Jungkook asked. Yoongi clenched his jaw but nodded. You didn't notice, too busy silently cutting final ingredients while listening, curious about what Yoongi would say. The second Jungkook had voiced the topic, you knew exactly where he was leading the conversation.  
"So, Y/N can date other guys too?" 

"If she wants to." Yoongi spoke through his teeth. That, you couldn't fail to notice so you looked up at him curiously. You wiped your left hand on the tea towel before pressing it to his arm. The second he looked at you, he forced himself to relax and smile at you. 

"You okay?" You asked quietly, unaware that despite your soft pitch, everyone in the room could hear you as if you spoke at a normal level.

"Yeah just, your friend seems to want me to give him permission to date you." He replied sighing and you giggled, entirely missing how Jungkook made a move to get up and argue but Jimin dragged him back down, stuffing a cupcake into his mouth to shut him up.   
Your conversation was too quiet for humans to hear from metres away and Jungkook's interruption would only raise questions in your mind on how on Earth he could've heard you and Yoongi whispering from so far away.

"It's okay, I don't want him." Yoongi genuinely smiled at your confession. "I only want you." 

"Good." Yoongi leant down and stole a kiss from your lips. "That looks really good by the way, is that our lunch?" His attention turned to the food on the counter before you and you nodded, smiling proudly at his compliment.

"Yep! I hope you'll like it!" 

"You made it, I'll love it." You blushed and finished your task quickly.

***

Much sooner than you'd like, your lunch hour was up and you were stood at the reception desk with Yoongi, saying your goodbyes.

"Can't you ask for the rest of the day off?" He whined childishly, nuzzling your cheek making you giggle. "I want to spend the day with my favourite girl." 

"Don't say that!" You gasped, nudging him gently. "What would your mother say?" 

"I-I don't know." Yoongi's mood dropped and you frowned. He never spoke about his parents, his family, anyone other than Hoseok actually but it had never striked you as odd, you figured the opportunity just hadn't arisen in his mind.

"What's wrong?" You frowned, leaning back to hold his face and make him look at you.

"I...I don't see her anymore." He admitted, lips turned down and you felt your heart breaking. It was clear how much the fact hurt Yoongi. 

"Why not?" 

"We grew apart." 

"You can always pick back up." Yoongi's frown deepened and he shook his head. "She's your mother, Yoongi, unless you did something terrible, unless you hurt someone, I'm sure she would love to see you again."   
Yoongi's thoughts turned to his mother, he hadn't seen her in such a long time. She thought he was dead, there was no way she could think he was alive. Everything he left behind pointed towards his death, especially the note.

"It's too late for that, Y/N." He muttered and wiggled his head from your grasp to lean down and hold you close, burying his face in your neck. "Can we not talk about it?" 

"Okay, if that's what you want." You agreed. Obviously, the whole subject was a sensitive one for Yoongi and you didn't want to push him. The last thing you ever wanted was to hurt him.

"Hello!" A male voice called. You both jumped and turned to look as a man no doubt twice your age, struggled into the building with a dog in his arms. "I need help!" 

"Oh!" You pressed the medical assist button under the desk before rushing over to take some of the weight from his arms knowing you would not be able to carry the animal alone. "What happened?!" 

"It just ran out in front of me!" He exclaimed, following your lead and carrying the unconscious animal through the reception area and into the medical room. "I didn't see it coming and then it was on my windshield." Carefully, you put the animal down on the bed and you started to examine it as best as you could with the knowledge you had learned from colleges and the many vets books stocked in the medical room and Molly's office.

"What happened?" You looked over confused as a beautiful man with broad shoulders walked into the room. When you didn't answer, he looked up at you and realisation lit up his features. "Oh! I'm Seokjin, I'm the actual vet." He explained and you made a sound of understanding before accepting his words and going into as much explanation you could regarding the circumstances and what you had seen so far on your patient's body while he checked that the animal was breathing properly. Luckily, it was.  
"Good work, Y/N." Seokjin patted your shoulder as he passed to approach the cupboard and get out what he needed to start caring for the animal.  
"Could you take Mr..." He looked over at the man you had honestly forgotten about.

"Oh, Young, Jeremy Young." He replied.

"Right, Mr Young out to the desk and take down his information, please?" 

"Right away." You replied and Jeremy followed you out of the medical room and to the desk. Yoongi was sat on one of the chairs, waiting for you.   
"Oh, Yoongi." You spoke surprised, you thought he would've gone already. "I didn't realise you're still here." 

"I wasn't going to leave without saying goodbye." He answered as if it was obvious. You smiled lightly and walked around him as he stood to reach the filing cabinet and locate the necessary forms. "Uh, okay, I guess I'll go then." Yoongi breathed out awkwardly. He genuinely didn't think you'd basically ignore him like that, on the few occasions he had been into the shelter while you were working, you didn't mind getting behind on work to give him your attention happily. 

"Sorry, this is important." You spoke but you didn't turn to look at him.

"Right, okay. Bye." You lifted your head then to smile softly at him.

"I'll text you after work." He nodded but said nothing else to leave you. Yoongi barely even noticed Jeremy stood on the other side of the desk. Jeremy had been glancing between you and Yoongi from the get go, wondering what your relationship was. If this was the chance he had been working and waiting years for.   
As Yoongi ducked out of the building, hand coming up to rub the back of his head, doubting thoughts regarding your feelings for him sprouting in his mind, Jeremy looked over and caught sight of the mark on the back of his neck.

A sick smirk twisted Jeremy's lips.

"Mr Young." You spoke as you sat down, bringing his attention back to you. Jeremy looked at you with a small smile, concern for the animal he had hit with his car returning to his features.

"Please, just Jeremy is fine." He answered instantly. You smiled and nodded in agreement. 

"Jeremy-" You grabbed a pen and wrote his name in block capitals across the top of the form in the relevant boxes. "I just need information on you, contact details, car registration and the like." 

"Of course." He leant forward onto the desk to watch your hand work to scrawl all the details into the correct place as he answered each question without hesitation.

"I think that's about it." You spoke, eyes skimming over the form, checking for any mistakes or missed boxes. "As it's not your animal, you're more than welcome to leave." 

"Can I stay?" Your attention lifted to take in his gentle smile, features reflecting his wish to stay but the way his eyes sparkled when yours met, you had a feeling it wasn't all about the dog in with Seokjin.   
The thought was squashed as soon as it presented itself. There was no way a man twice your age was interested in you. Especially one as handsome and charming as Jeremy. The watch on his wrist, the pressed suit and the make of his car told you he was well off too. He was so far out of your league it was ridiculous.

"If you really want to." You responded with a smile, all delusion of interest in you dissolving as you stood up. "Take a seat anywhere you like." Jeremy smiled gratefully and took a seat on the comfy padded couch beside the large desk as you moved to make a copy of the document and scan it onto the computer. Once you were done, you put the original form in a plastic protective cover and filed the copy away in the filing cabinet.   
"Is there anything I can get you while we wait for word on the animal?" You questioned, rounding the desk and heading to the medical room where you knew the original copy of the form needed to be kept.

"Well, your name would be nice." You stopped with your hand on the door handle and looked over at him. "I think it's only fair I know the name of the beautiful girl working so diligently to look after me and help fix my mistake, don't you?" 

"Uh, right." You blushed lightly at the compliment and lowered your gaze. "It's Y/N." 

"Y/N, it suits you." His voice was soft and your heart thumped.

No he did not have interest in you. No way. Impossible. 

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" 

"A cup of tea would be great." You looked up to catch the grin lifting his features and you smiled.

"Let me put this away then I'll get right on that." 

***

As it turns out, the dog didn't have a chip or a collar to point towards an owner, someone that could claim the animal and look after it once its time at the shelter was over.  
You spent your afternoon calling up different shelters and vets to ask around to see if anyone had reported a dog fitting the description missing.   
All the while, Jeremy stuck around the foyer with you, helping you think of ideas to find the animal's home.

By the time the shelter closed, you were still no closer to finding the animal's owner and you were fearing it didn't have one.  
You had heard unclaimed, injured animals were often put to sleep as they had no home to go to. Most people didn't want to adopt and take home a damaged animal, they wanted cute, healthy animals to take home excitedly and slowly lose interest in as the novelty wore off. Although you hated that people were like that, you couldn't deny the simple fact of the matter.  
You feared the animal would be put down all because it didn't have a family and chances were, it wouldn't get adopted. It was too old for most people to have interest in. It made you sad.

"I've failed." You sighed, finally giving up after being hit with yet another dead end. You had moved your chair to the end of the desk near the couch so you could work closely with Jeremy.   
Jeremy reached over the desk to take your hand that laid uselessly on top of the desk into his own. 

"You've done all you can, Y/N." He spoke, giving you a sympathetic look. "You haven't failed. He's a stray, it's not your fault he doesn't have an owner." 

"No-one will adopt a damaged animal and he's too old for most people to find cute and take home even if he wasn't injured. He'll never walk the same even when he's healed, you heard Seokjin say so yourself, Jeremy. No-one will want him." 

"Don't talk like that." A genuine frown took over his features. You truly cared about the animal, about it's future and it kind of hurt his stomach.   
"How long does he have to be under Seokjin's care for?" 

"About a week." You mumbled, eyes downcast to the laptop in front of you, supplying you no useful information whatsoever.  
"Even then, he'll be here and although it's lovely here and all the animals are cared for, I don't know what will happen to him. I'd be crazy to believe he'll ever leave here and that's no life for anyone." 

"I'll help you find him a home." Your eyes lifted to look at him quizzically. He chuckled nervously at your expression. "Just seeing how passionate and upset you are, I can't leave you to do this alone. I'll do everything I can to find someone to take him home with them." It was your turn to grasp his hand lightly.

"You don't need to. There is nothing saying you should." 

"My heart says I should, not just for the dog but...for you too." The intensity in his eyes made you back up slightly, your stomach turning and heat coating your neck and cheeks. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to scare you off, I'm not in the habit of hitting on women like this, in fact, I'm usually too interested in my work but, there's something about you, Y/N. I'd like to get to know you better. Could I take you out to dinner tonight?" 

"I-I don't know." You stammered.

"The man here earlier, is that your boyfriend?" You shook your head. "Then what's holding you back? I'm not asking for any promises of anything more than simply dinner, I won't make any move on you unless you say I can." Jeremy studied your features and at the sight of hesitation, he smiled lightly and got up. "I don't want to pressure you. I'll leave my private number for you to get back to me, if not to agree to a date, to at least keep me updated on the dog's progress." He reached over to grab a post it and a pen to write his name and number on. "Here." You held out your hand, accepting the paper numbly. "I hope I'll hear from you soon, Y/N." He smiled and turned to leave.

When he was at the door, you suddenly jumped up and called his name. He stopped and looked over at you.  
"Just...wait." He nodded, not sure what was going on, especially when you turned and ran through the double doors in search of someone, anyone. 

Jimin and Jungkook were in the kitchen when you ran past.

"Was that Y/N?" Jimin mumbled having barely glimpsed the figure running past. He laughed when you back tracked and sprinted into the room. "What's with you?" 

"What's company policy on dating clients?" You rushed out and both males stopped what they were doing to look at you with wide eyes. "Quick quick!" 

"Dating clients?" Jimin repeated in a mumble. You nodded. "Dating a client? As in you, going on...on a date...with someone whose animal we're looking after?" You nodded. "Uh...I don't think Molly's against it." 

"So, I won't get scolded?" He shook his head. "Great! Well, my shift is over, I'm going! I'll see you in the morning!" You grinned and ran to the staff room to collect your belongings.

On the way back to the foyer, you rushed into the bathroom to freshen up and made sure you looked okay.  
To your surprise, Suga was sat outside of the bathroom when you exited, as if he was waiting for you.

"Oh, hey!" You beamed and crouched down to stroke him quickly. "I haven't seen you all evening." You pressed a kiss to his head quickly and stood up. "I can't stick around I'm afraid, I've got a date." Suga hissed and you froze, your smile falling. "Did you just hiss at me, Suga?" He meowed and you sighed. "I'm sorry I can't give you attention right now but my shift is over anyway. I'll give you love tomorrow!" 

Suga watched you leave. The second you had rounded the corner and he heard the doors to the reception swing shut, he changed into his human self.  
"Like I haven't heard that before." He spat. "A fucking date?!" He turned and stalked to the kitchen where Jimin and Jungkook were waiting for him. Jungkook had been the one to run off and locate Suga, inform him that you were going on a date.   
"Why would she go on a date with someone else?!" Yoongi slammed his palm down onto the counter, making Jimin jump. 

"You're the one that said she could." Jungkook pointed out. "Today in fact." 

"That doesn't mean I want her to! I didn't think she'd run off at the first chance!" 

"I'm sure she didn't plan it." Jimin defended. "You know these things just happen. You never planned to fall in lo-" 

"Shut up." Yoongi hissed. Jimin and Jungkook both bit back their sniggers. Yoongi still refused just how deep his feelings truly went for you.   
"I bet it's that guy she's been with all day." 

"Afternoon." Jungkook helpfully pointed out. "You're just mad she kicked you out because you tried to claw him." 

"He was touching her too much!" Yoongi defended, crossing his arms over his chest. The two opposite him giggled. "But I was right to do it! Now she's off on a date with him! She's so much better than him." 

"He drives a fancy car." Jimin spoke, looking at Jungkook who hummed in agreement.

"Oh, the Jaguar?" Jungkook replied. "I saw that, real nice. Leather interior." 

"Leather makes her car sick." Yoongi replied instantly in a bitter murmur but the pair ignored him.

"I'm pretty sure his suit was Gucci." Jungkook added. 

"She doesn't care about Gucci." 

"And he wore a Rolex." Jimin stated.

"I wear a Rolex." 

"She said she wanted a sugar daddy." Jungkook mentioned off handedly and Yoongi's head snapped up to look at him wide eyed. It was the first Yoongi had heard of such a thing.

"What?" Jimin asked with a giggle, thinking Jungkook was joking but he was entirely serious.

"Yeah, when we first got close, there was that real rich woman that came in and I swear she was actually trying to seduce Y/N but that girl is so blind." Jungkook chuckled. "When she left, I told Y/N and she told me about her wish to have someone spoil her like a sugar daddy, minus the exchange of sex, unless he's hot. In her own words." 

"Are you fucking serious?!" Yoongi yelled. Jungkook and Jimin backed off, their small bird DNA cowering to Yoongi's feline DNA mixed with the natural respect for the elder man. "You let her go off with this man knowing that?!" 

"I doubt anything will happen, hyung." Jimin spoke timidly. 

"You don't know that!" Yoongi rushed around the counter to grab at Jimin's hoodie. "Give me your fucking phone! I need to call her!" 

"No!" Jimin gasped, manoeuvring out of Yoongi's reach. "You can't call her from my phone, hyung! That would be so weird, it'll ruin everything!" Only then did Yoongi realise Jimin was right so he nodded and backed off only to turn and run through the building. He was headed straight for his phone that was left in his bedroom upstairs.

Jimin and Jungkook exchanged a nervous look but returned to work.  
They had no idea what Yoongi was really going to do, if he would purposely sabotage your date but they knew there was nothing they could do about it.

***

Less than twenty minutes after leaving the shelter, strapped securely into Jeremy's car, your phone started to ring in your bag. Quickly, you pulled it out and lifted your eyebrows at the photo of Yoongi on the screen, his caller ID.   
Yoongi usually always waited for your text to say you were home before he even thought about calling you. He never wanted to disturb you but knew that when you were home, you were always available to take his call.

"You can take it, it's okay." Jeremy insisted, catching you staring at your phone awkwardly.

"No, it's okay." You declined the call and instantly clicked into messages and typed one up to send to Yoongi.

##### I can't talk right now. Is everything okay?x

It took Yoongi a long time to respond. You were at the restaurant by the time your phone vibrated, you had honestly forgotten you were waiting for a response.

##### Yeah. Don't worry about it.

You frowned at his short response, he didn't even end it with a kiss. You were going to reply, asking if he was okay but another text came through.

##### xxx

Your lips curled up at the three kisses and you slipped your phone back into your bag.

"Is he okay then?" Jeremy asked. You had already told him who had called you and that you were waiting for a response, so he was okay with you checking your phone. You didn't want to miss Yoongi's response but didn't want to be rude towards your date.

"Yeah. Sorry about that." You smiled, picking your fork back up. "You have my full attention now." 

"Good. I was getting kind of jealous having to share you with him." He teased and you blushed. "You're a very caring person, aren't you?" 

"I'd like to think I'm simply a decent human." 

"You're much more than that."


	8. Chapter 8

A week to the day, Jeremy was back at the shelter and you greeted him enthusiastically, with a hug that he returned warmly.

"Wow, I really forgot how beautiful you are." He cooed, stepping back to look you over exaggeratedly. 

"Shut up!" You blushed, pushing him away. "You're so cheesy." 

"You love it." He grinned and you couldn't deny it. A week full of almost non stop texting with Jeremy showed you how attentive and loving he could be and it made your head swim and stomach flutter. Only a week of knowing him and he had you pretty much eating out of the palm of his hand. He couldn't have wished for it to go better.  
"Oh, who is this?" He asked spotting Hobi sat close by, watching carefully. Hobi was very protective of you, even before you started to date his best friend so he wanted to make sure this guy was good enough to date you.

"This is Hobi!" You called him over. Hobi trotted over and sniffed at Jeremy wearily. "Ah, he's never usually like this." You announced. "He's usually anyways so happy and hyper." 

"Maybe he doesn't like me." Jeremy offered with a nervous chuckle. 

"No, he's my good boy! There no way he doesn't like you!" You knelt down to give Hobi all your attention. As soon as you held his head between his hands, thumbs stroking at the base of his ears gently, his tail started to wag like crazy. "Isn't that right, Hobi? You're just proective of me, huh?" You suggested and he barked, bouncing on the spot and back to his usual self. "There he is! Say hi to Jeremy." You pushed him towards the man gently and Hobi complied, following your wishes to greet the man with his usual enthusiasm.

"He's such a lovely dog." Jeremy commented, stroking Hobi with a small chuckle. 

"He is." There wasn't even a milisecond of doubt in your answer. "The best." Hobi returned to you, jumping all over you and kissing your face with his tongue making you giggle. "Hobiii." He barked and backed up to greet Seokjin who appeared pretty much out of thin air.

"Ah, Mr Young, you made it back." He greeted, shaking Jeremy's hand. "Y/N says you're very interested in Bob's recovery." Both you and Jeremy looked at Seokjin confused. "Hm?" 

"Bob?" You questioned and Seokjin chuckled.

"Right, yes, that's what I call the dog Mr Young brought in!" He announced.

"Why Bob? Of all names for a dog, you chose Bob?" You laughed lightly, amused at his choice.

"Because he has a limp forever now." You just stared, confused. "You know? He bobs around." Seokjin started to laugh hysterically, slapping one hand against his thigh. You couldn't help the snort that left you before you joined in with his laughter. 

Jeremy laughed softly before just watching you two gasping for air through your laughing fit.

"Well then." Seokjin suddenly composed himself and cleared his throat. You did the same, both trying not to laugh. "I suppose you'd like to see him?" He asked Jeremy who nodded.

"If it's no bother." 

"Of course, not at all!" Seokjin beamed, clapping his hands together. "Follow me." Before you could return to the desk, your morning duty, Jeremy had your hand in his with your fingers entwined together.  
You both followed Seokjin past the desk and through the double doors. Honestly, you thought you were going to be lead to the large room, the cage room, where the animals slept but he took the corner and finished his walk down to the main room. 

"Oh wow." You breathed, seeing Bob playing with Monie. "How did you even get Monie down here?" You entered the room first, unintentionally disconnecting your hand from Jeremy's. He frowned and followed quickly.   
Both dogs ran over to greet you.  
"Hey buddy." You greeted Monie first. "Haven't seen you in a while." It had only been a few days since you were up in the apartment last, having "girl time" with Molly featuring all seven of her male animals. But, you loved them all and having Suga curled up on your lap while you ate ice cream with Molly and gushed over the attractive male lead in the show you were watching was pretty much perfect.  
Monie barked at you happily and moved over to carefully meet Jeremy curiously.  
Your attention turned to Bob and you crouched down, allowing him to circle you fully but he wasn't cautious at all. He clearly trusted Monie's judgement but he still wanted to find out who you were himself. Upon finishing the circle, he stopped in front of you and licked your mouth. You laughed and moved your head away to stop him doing it again as you petted him happily.  
"You're healing so well." You cooed, smiling over at Jeremy as he knelt down beside you, holding his hand out for Bob to sniff. Bob sniffed then licked him so Jeremy shuffled forward to stroke him. 

"Have you made any progress on finding Bob a home?" Seokjin asked and just like that, your whole mood dropped. A frown tugged your mouth down and you shook your head sadly.

"What if...I took him?" Jeremy suggested. Your head snapped up so fast it honestly kind of hurt your neck but you ignored it.

"What? Are you serious?" He nodded. "Please don't do this because of me." You begged.

"I'm not, well, not entirely." Jeremy gave you a smile. "I want to take him home with me. I ran him over with my car, the least I can do is make sure he's happy for the rest of his life." 

"Are you sure?" 

"Definitely." He nodded and you pounced forward to throw your arms around him, embracing him tight. He laughed and held you close. "It also means I have more of an excuse to invite you over." He flirted when you moved back. You gave him a look before rolling your eyes and giggling. "Would that work?" 

"If you want to see me, you don't need to make an excuse." You informed and he grinned. He was about to lean in and kiss you but Hobi appeared and kissed you. 

"Damn, I think he's showing me who's boss." Jeremy joked, running his hand over Hobi's back.

"It's okay Hobi, you're still one of my favourites." You cooed, scratching behind his ear before giving him a kiss back.

"Hobi is very protective of our Y/N." Seokjin announced. "Good luck getting his approval." He laughed. "Only Yoongi has it to touch her." 

"Yeah, she said." Jeremy muttered, looking a little sour at the mention of Yoongi. 

"Oh, I don't suppose you know Yoongi." Seokjin hummed. You looked at him, there was something in his eyes, in the upwards twitch of the left side of his lips that unsettled you but you didn't voice it. 

"Not personally, I know he's the other guy Y/N is dating." Jeremy replied simply and Seokjin's features dropped into shock.

"You know?" 

"Were you trying to snitch on me?!" You realised, pointing at Seokjin accusingly.

"W-what?! N-no!" It was an obvious lie and you scoffed.

"I told him as soon as date two was mentioned." You stated, giving Seokjin a hard look as you stood up. "They both know about the other, Seokjin. I'm doing nothing wrong." Seokjin stared at you for a moment before his whole body sagged.

"No, I suppose you're not." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Y/N can take you through all the necessary paperwork, Mr Young, I hope you enjoy your life with Bob." 

"Thank you, Dr Kim." Jeremy replied and Seokjin walked off, not even sparing a final glance. Hobi and Monie both followed him leaving the two of you alone with Bob who had only stayed as Jeremy was stroking him still.  
"I guess I should let you get back to work." Jeremy hummed as he got to his feet. You looked at him and smiled softly. "How long will this paperwork take?" 

"Hm, twenty minutes maybe." 

"Any chance we can make it longer?" 

"You want paperwork to last longer?" You laughed incredulously. 

"If it means I can spend more time by your side, yes." The way he spoke was so serious, so intense your smile dropped and you swallowed. Silently, he held your face in one hand and leant forward to press his lips against yours.   
You couldn't help but notice it wasn't the same as kissing Yoongi. Something was missing.

Yet, you smiled all the same when he straightened up. 

"I don't suppose you have any dog accessories at home ready, do you?" You asked and he shook his head.  
"We have some available, I assume you don't mind the cost?" You giggled looking up and down his expensive suit. 

You were seriously curious about his occupation, why he always wore a suit, why he drove such an expensive car but, it hadn't come up and you didn't want to pry into financial matters so soon.

"You would be assuming correct." He chuckled. 

"Follow me to the storage room and you can pick whatever you like in that case." 

"I trust your judgement, you know?" He replied but followed you all the same, Bob tight to his side. Jeremy looked around curiously as you lead him through the cage room to the storage room that faced the car park at the front of the building.

"You don't have to come in then, if you don't want." You spoke, turning to look up at him once you had unlocked the storage room door. 

"Will you be in there?" He asked and you raised your eyebrows, what a dumb question.

"Of course I will-"

"Then that's where I want to be." 

"God, how are you so cheesy?!" Jeremy laughed and took the few steps to enter the small room behind you. 

There was a large floor to ceiling, wall to wall, stack of shelves against the back wall, the only gap being for the small window to give the room natural light.   
Shelves lined both the left and right wall also. The only wall that didn't have any shelving was the one with the door inserted.

"We have leashes, collars, bowls, cute little bowties-" Your words were cut off when Jeremy suddenly grabbed you and pressed his lips to yours. "Uh...why..?"

"I just really wanted to." He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry for interrupting you. Proceed." You stared for a moment before giggling and turning to the box with dog collars and neck accessories in. 

"You cut me off at bowties so that is what he is having." You announced and Jeremy chuckled, not complaining.   
Quickly, you located a cute little bow tie in Bob's size and pulled it out to hand to Jeremy. 

"That is cute so I'm not going to argue." He confessed and you grinned. "Can I put it on him now?" 

"Of course, just keep hold of the bag so I can scan the code." He nodded and pulled the item from the plastic bag so he could crouch down and tie it around his new pet's neck. "How's the fit?" 

"Perfect, I can fit two fingers underneath easily." 

"Wonderful!" You beamed and looked around until you found the spare, blank metal tags ready to be engraved. "We have an engraving machine here too so we can to that for you." 

"That would be great." 

"Do you want to go find someone to do it for you while I find the rest of the items? The engraving could take a while." You asked, looking over when Jeremy didn't answer. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?" 

"You're so dim sometimes." You gawped at the insult and he chuckled. "I've already said I want to be where you are, Y/N." 

"Oh...right." You smiled and turned your head back to the box you were hunting through.

Jeremy pretty much allowed you to pick every single item to take home with Bob, including a little doggie hoodie and coat because you really wanted to see a dog in them and knew Jeremy would grant that wish without complaint.

The tag had been engraved with Bob's name and Jeremy's phone number and attached to the bow tie, and forms all filled out when the entrance door to the shelter opened and Yoongi walked in. 

"Yoongi." You greeted when you finally noticed him stood at the door, glaring at Jeremy. His eyes slid to you and you noticed how tense he was. "Are you okay?" You frowned.

"It's lunch." He announced simply. "I'm taking you out today, remember?" 

"Oh! Right! We just have a few things left to sign, Jeremy is adopting Bob!" You announced brightly. Yoongi's eyes dropped down to the dog that was curled up on the floor by the desk. Both you and Jeremy were sat on one of the couches, a lot closer than Yoongi liked.   
But to be honest, Jeremy being in the same building as you was too close for Yoongi's liking. 

"Right." Yoongi stepped further into the foyer until he was behind the desk where he sat, the perfect position to glare at Jeremy who blatantly flirting with you and you giggled away, as if Yoongi couldn't see and hear! 

By the time the two of you were finished and stood up, Yoongi's teeth actually hurt from clenching them so hard. He wanted nothing more than to run over and beat the shit out of Jeremy for touching you but you weren't Yoongi's alone and he could barely contain his pain.

"I'll see you soon, Bob!" You spoke, giving the dog a side rub goodbye as he got up suddenly wide awake when his new owner got to his feet. Bob turned and nuzzled you excitedly, licking up your hand and arm making you laugh and straighten back up.   
A sudden intake of air caught in your throat when Jeremy kissed you, holding your face to his. You were still well aware that Yoongi was in the room, you could feel his gaze burning into your face so you pushed Jeremy back gently, giving him a small smile.  
"Have fun." 

"Can you come over tonight?" He asked and you blinked rapidly. 

"Maybe not tonight, let's give Bob a little while to settle in first, yeah?" He pouted and you giggled at the older male suddenly looking so much like a child. "He needs your love and attention." 

"I have enough to give some to you too." 

"No." 

"Please?" 

"No." He sighed and gave in, realising you wouldn't relent.

"Fine, I'll just have to spoil you." He smirked. "Gucci or Prada?" 

"Ohmygod, neither, get out, I need my lunch." You pushed him towards the door. 

"Ah, you're a Louis Vuitton girl, okay." He giggled at the glare you sent his way. Quick as anything, he leant forward to steal a final kiss from you. "I'll text you tonight. Try not to work too hard, hmm?" His tone was suddenly soft and caring, all playfullness gone and you couldn't help but smile at him.

"Okay. Bye." 

"Bye. Come on Bob, let's take you home." Jeremy grabbed the large bag full of Bob's items and left. Almost as soon as he was gone, Yoongi scoffed. 

"What?" You asked, turning to walk over and sit on the chair beside him. "What's wrong?" 

"Are you fucking serious?" His harsh tone left you speechless. You could only stare open mouthed. "How can you be dating that dick?!" 

"What? He's not a dick, he's a good guy, Yoongi." You argued, frowning at him. "How can you judge him so easily, you don't even know him?" 

"I don't need to know him, I just know. I have senses for these things." 

"Then your senses must faulty because the only dick here is you." You hissed. Yoongi's arms dropped down from his chest and a sharp pang shot into his heart. "How fucking dare you come in here and say such things?! You didn't even give him a chance!" 

"He has no regard for others!" He defended, his anger returning at full force.   
How could you defend him? How could you take his side over Yoongi's?   
Yoongi had been through so much with you, he had seen you at your worst and comforted you. He knew you, he knew your thoughts, your worries and concerns without you having to say a word yet you're taking Jeremy's side?! 

"What the hell makes you say that?" 

"He knows who I am, you told me that much and yet he acts like that while I'm sat right here!" 

"You expect him to suddenly move across the room because you came in?" 

"I expect him to not have his hands all over you when I'm here! I fucking knew this was a bad idea." 

"What?" You mumbled, a dark feeling stirring in your chest. This was going wrong. This was not going as it should've and it was only getting worse.

"Letting you date another guy." 

"You don't control me." You glared and he sighed.

"That's not what I mean, Y/N and you know it." 

"No I don't. Explain what the fuck you mean, Yoongi." You warned and he groaned, tipping his head back.

"I can't be okay with you dating other guys while dating me. I don't want to share." 

"Then do something about it." Yoongi lifted his head and looked at you with such pain so deep within his eyes that you felt your heart trembling. "If you want me to yourself, you only need to ask me one thing, Yoongi." You encouraged in a delicate whisper. You wanted Yoongi more than you had ever wanted anyone, anything in your life but your heart was screaming at you to stop. Don't give him the chance to hurt you. But you didn't listen. You never thought Yoongi would hurt you.

"I...I can't." He finally replied and got up. "I can't do this anymore, Y/N. I can't handle knowing another man has you, touches you, kisses you." 

"Then do something about it, Yoongi." Your voice was weak as you tried not to cry. Deep down, you knew where this was going but you were trying to deny it. If you ignored it, it would go away, right?   
"Yoongi, you only need to ask me one thing and everything will be fine. I can be yours."

"It's not that simple, Y/N." Yoongi glanced at you instead of staring at the carpet and he choked out a sound at the sight of your desperation. You wanted him as much as he wanted you, he was certain of that by looking in your pleading eyes but, he couldn't. He couldn't give either of you what you wanted.  
"I'm so fucking sorry." He wiped at his eyes, fighting the tears before they could spill, or at least attempting to because his actions didn't help. Wet stains marked his cheeks when he moved his arms and rushed around the desk. When he stopped by the door, he couldn't even look at you, he knew he'd break down if he did.  
"We shouldn't...see...each other...anymore." He managed, sucking in air in a lame attempt to stop the sobs from escaping his chest. You didn't try and hide your own heartbreak and cried openly, your body shaking as sobs rocked your body.   
"Fuck, I'm so fucking sorry." Yoongi's words were full of truth and pain but then he ran out. He only made it to the back entrance, not even managing to open the door before falling to his knees and loud noises of anguish ripped from his throat. He fell forward, pressing his forehead against the brick wall as both of his hands clamped over his mouth to try and lessen his sounds.

With his keen hearing, Hobi had heard the first loud cry escape your throat and ran full speed to the reception. When he found you alone, he sprinted over and put his head on your lap. He so badly wanted to shift into his human form to comfort you but you didn't know Hoseok, you only knew Hobi.  
He couldn't do anything but whimper along with you and let you cry, gripping your stomach as you double over, unable to handle the pain of heartbreak. 

You were ready to admit the extent of your feelings for Yoongi to yourself. You were going to confess that you were in love with him and Jeremy was just a short term crush never to amount to anything. You were ready to stop fighting the fantasies of a future with Yoongi but then he went and broke your heart.


	9. Chapter 9

Only three days had passed since Yoongi broke up with you and you hadn't heard from him since he walked away from you, not that you expected to. It felt like a lifetime since you last saw him yet at the same time, the pain in your chest was as strong and fresh as the day it happened.

V whimpered in your oversized hoodie pocket when you sniffled.

For the past three days, at least one of Molly's animals were at your side at all times, mostly V as he loved the cuddles most and you wore clothing to make carrying him around easy for you both. The one animal you wanted hadn't shown his face since the morning of the breakup though. You had asked Molly and she gave a sad smile and told you that Suga wasn't very well. Of course, you wanted to go upstairs and see him, do what you could for your favourite animal but, Molly said it was best you didn't go visit him, in fact, it was best you didn't go to the apartment in general for a while. Your heart broke a little more which you hadn't been aware was possible until it happened.

"Have you been ignoring me, beautiful?" You looked up to see Jeremy entering the building, Bob in tow wearing the cute red hoodie you picked out for him, the matching red leash attached to the plain black collar you had also picked, for days when Jeremy needed a leash as the bow tie wasn't suitable for such use.  
"What's wrong?" Of course, Jeremy had noticed your downtrodden mood, the black fatigue marks and bloodshot eyes were pretty much impossible to miss.

"Yoongi broke up with me." You decided to be honest, there was no point even attempting to lie about the source of your pain, even to Jeremy. Truthfully speaking, chances were, you couldn't have even mustered the willpower to lie even if you wanted to.  
"I'm sorry I haven't been answering your calls or texts, I haven't felt like talking."

"No...no...I understand." His eyebrows scrunched together in concern and you mistook it as concern for your wellbeing. He had never given you any reason to doubt his intentions and feelings towards you. "So, you don't see him at all anymore?" You shook your head. "Not even as friends?" You sniffled and shook your head again, pulling V up to your chest without bothering to remove him from your hoodie first. "I'm sorry, Y/N."

"I'll call Seokjin, it's Bob's checkup, right?" You remembered and Jeremy nodded.

The phone on the desk connected instantly to the apartment phone and a voice you didn't recognise answered.

"Who is this?" You asked confused.

_"Uhhhh."_ The voice replied, dragging out the syllable until another voice, one you recognised, spoke.

_"Y/N?"_ Seokjin questioned and you hummed. "What can I do for you?"

"Jeremy is here for Bob's checkup."

_"Oh! I had forgotten! I'll be right down!"_ You hummed again and hung up to look at Jeremy.

"He'll be right down, make yourself comfy. Would you like some tea?" You asked unenthusiastically as you got to your feet, carefully lowering your hoodie to its natural state so you didn't jostle V.

"I won't say no if you're already making one but if not-"

"It's no problem." You answered simply before going to the feeding room where all customer drinks were made.

While you waited for the kettle to boil, Jungkook entered the room. By the way he walked straight over to you, he was only there for you. Silently, he reached out and pulled you to his chest. Quickly, you pushed him back to take V out and sit him on the counter. Jungkook smiled softly and pulled your body back to his.

For a little while, you both just stood there and enjoyed the warm embrace. Reluctantly, you pulled away from him when there was a click behind you signalling the water was done.

Jungkook stepped back and watched as you made Jeremy's drink.  
If you were your usual self, you would've asked Jungkook if he wanted a drink despite knowing his answer was always no. You would've made Jimin and Namjoon coffee without even asking first because they always wanted a drink when you asked.  
But, you weren't your usual self so you silently made the drink and picked it up to deliver it to Jeremy.

He was already in the medical room with Seokjin who was crouched down and inspecting Bob who was trying to lick the man having grown fond of him during his short stay at the shelter. Seokjin had been his main caretaker due to his medical needs so the pair bonded.

"Oh, sorry, did you want a drink, Seokjin?" You asked, handing Jeremy his mug.

"No, it's okay, thank you, Y/N. I had a coffee upstairs before coming down." Seokjin replied, flashing you a grateful smile. "Come see how your first patient is healing." You did as he said, kneeling down beside him and looking over every spot where you knew Bob originally had an injury.

"He looks practically healed." You spoke in awe. "You did a great job looking after him."

"You know, I would've missed the damage on his front left paw if you hadn't pointed it out." He hummed. "It blended with his contours well, most vets would miss it." You only shrugged. "I have something to talk to you about once we're done with our patient. Will you stay here and watch on?" You simply nodded and he beamed. "Wonderful!"

As agreed, you watched over the appointment, barely even taking in all the information Seokjin gave out even if part of you felt it was also for your benefit as well. You hadn't been able to focus for a few days and no-one blamed you. Molly had even offered to let you take a week off but, you turned down the chance. Taking time off would only give you time to overthink and replay your last image of Yoongi. It would do nothing to lessen the pain, only worsen it so you continued on at work, even if your heart wasn't in it anymore.

At some point, and you couldn't be sure when, you retreated back into your mind as you leant against Seokjin's desk, arms folded over your chest and eyes unmoving where they were trained on the corner of the metal bed in the centre of the room.  
The only reason you returned to reality was that a large hand took hold of your shoulder. Blinking away your thoughts, you looked up to find Seokjin's sympathetic smile directed at you. Quickly, you straightened up and looked around to find you were alone.

"I just walked them out, I told him it was best to not disturb you, I figured you wouldn't want to force out a meaningful goodbye right now." He explained the absence of Jeremy and Bob.

"Oh, thank you." Your words were genuine and he smiled a little bigger. "What was it you wanted to talk about?"

"You're a smart woman, you know that?" He complimented, moving to hop up onto the table. You tilted your head at him. You couldn't deny that, you were pretty smart but it was never something you bragged about. You preferred to remain modest. Also, the less you mentioned it, the less people expected of you meaning less pressure and less disappointment.

"Thank you?" You replied, not sure what he expected from you and he laughed lightly, practically a giggle.

"The guys have told me that you seem to be pretty good at figuring out what is wrong with the animals here, which is why I've had a lot less work to do lately." He gave you a dramatic stern look that you knew was fake but you apologised all the same.

"Sorry?"

"No, don't be!" He laughed loudly. "It means I've had more time with Molly and more time to work on my cooking skills!"

"Oh then, you're welcome?" He laughed again and your lips twitched up slightly.

"I want to train you, Y/N."

"Train me?"

"To be a vet." Your eyes blew wide and he sniggered. "You would be a wonderful vet! I can teach you everything you need to know here, you already have a lot of hands-on experience and if I teach you, it'll take you way less than it would in school to become qualified."

"Can you...Can you teach me that? Like, would it even count?"

"Of course!" He scoffed. "I'm a part-time veterinary tutor at the university."

"Oh. I did not know that."

"Ah, there's a lot you don't know about me, love." He winked then giggled as he jumped off the bed to stand in front of you and take both your hands into both of his. "So, Y/N, do you want me to pass on all my brilliant knowledge and experience onto you? It'll take a while but at the end, I'll put you forward for the exam myself, Molly said she will fund everything happily-"

"What?"

"Yeah, Molly will pay for the exam and any training materials we may need. We've been talking about this since Bob came in and I realised how right the guys were about your capabilities. I'm more than willing to spend as many hours a day required to teach you what you need to know and to stay on track. I'll take you into uni under guise as my assistant to teach you with the other students-" You laughed lightly at his plan and he smiled widely, glad you had finally smiled let alone laughed! He was proud of himself for being the one to get a positive reaction from you. "We can go to other vets in the area and observe. You can go with me to look at new equipment soon and learn what it all does and which functions are best suited for which task! I have so much to teach you, you only have to agree."

"You're completely serious about this, aren't you?"

"Yes!" He laughed rolling his eyes. "So come on, Y/N, be my apprentice." He begged cutely, big, round eyes boring into your own. For a moment, that gaze looked so familiar but you pushed the thought away quickly to respond.

"Okay." You giggled at his slack-jawed surprise. "I don't see why not. It would be proof that I'm not wasting my life." Seokjin let out an ecstatic noise as he picked you up excitedly and span you around while jumping, all the while, you were giggling despite his shoulder digging into your ribs.   
When he put you back down, you stumbled for a moment then noticed Hobi sat in the open doorway, leash gripped loosely in his mouth.   
"Oh, you want to go for a walk, Hobi?" You asked with a smile. Hobi bolted over to you, wagging his tail excitedly.   
At least twice a week, you'd take Hobi for a walk and you had already turned him down yesterday to wallow in self-pity but Seokjin had managed to pick you up, both literally and figuratively. His offer of training gave you hope that you would make something of yourself in your life, something you thought would never happen.

"I'll go tell Molly the great news! The three of us should go out for dinner tonight!" Seokjin exclaimed, rushing off excitedly, rambling as he went.

Hobi barked excitedly when you finally took the leash from his mouth and attached it to the collar. Then the two of you left once you had grabbed the toy bag from under the desk, where you always kept it for easy access when you took Hobi or Monie for a walk.

As soon as you arrived at the park, you removed Hobi's leash and he ran around, sprinting from tree to tree only to sniff and run off again. Your cheeks lifted as a bright smile plastered itself on your face.

Hobi never strayed too far, he always made sure you could see one another, even when you continued to walk further into the park, not surprised at how few people were around.  
It was already into the evening and people would be too busy fussing over their dinner to make a visit to the park.

When you were in a completely empty area, you stopped on the grass and put down the bag and leash.

That was the biggest mistakes you made that night, finding a secluded area to play.

You always chose empty spots to play with the dogs, especially Hobi, to give you more time to enjoy his company without other people or dogs getting in the way. You always picked the best areas for complete privacy and someone knew that.

Your next mistake was not keeping an eye on your surroundings. Your focus was Hobi as you threw toys for him to fetch and return to you.

It wasn't until Hobi was trotting happily back towards you with a frisbee in his mouth that you heard the steps of someone approaching behind you. Just as you started to turn, you saw a man dressed so painfully boring and casual you knew no-one would recall such a person, approaching Hobi, a long pole in one hand with a large plastic loop on one end. In his other hand, he had what could only be described as a needle gun. It had a trigger, a large needle sticking out the nozzle end and a slot to load.   
"Hobi!" You screamed desperately. "Run!" And he did, straight towards you but not for the reason you thought. In your fear for Hobi, you forgot about the person approaching you from behind.

An arm suddenly wrapped around your throat, nestling you in the crook of the elbow, preventing you from moving while also slowly cutting off your breath. You tried to fight the person behind you, throwing your body around and elbowing him in the ribs. He grunted and kicked the backs of your legs in a surprisingly gentle manner but it was still enough to catch the backs of your knees and make your legs give out.   
He lowered down to the floor with you, pinning you on your front to keep you still with his body on top of you. You could just about move your head far enough to catch sight of Hobi and your eyes watered.

The man had managed to attach the hoop around Hobi's neck and tighten it. Slowly, he got closer, moving the pole to keep Hobi's snapping jaw and sharp teeth away from his own body.   
A sob tried to break its way out of your throat but your windpipe was so constricted nothing came out.  
The man pushed the needle into Hobi's body and he howled in pain as the trigger was pulled. Hobi seemed to get weak rapidly until he slumped over onto the floor. The hoop was removed from his neck and he tried to crawl over to you. He was using all of his remaining strength to get to you but he was unconscious before he even got close.

"Fucking finish her then, god we need to leave!" The man yelled upon turning and finding you conscious. The arm around your throat tightened and you tried to gasp for breath instinctively pointlessly.

If you hadn't been so distracted by Hobi, you would've recognised the scent of the cologne the man behind you wore.  
If your mind hadn't swum into a fog, you would've recognised the voice that spoke into your ear from on top of you.

"I'm so sorry, Y/N." 


	10. Chapter 10

All at once, consciousness greeted you. The first thing you noticed was that you couldn't feel your hands or any of your left arm. For a moment, you panicked, thinking some kind of irreversible damage had occurred to you but then you shuffled and realised you were laid on your arm which is why it was dead. A little more movement told you your hands were tied together a little too tightly hence the lack of feeling. As carefully as you could, you resituated your body until you managed to sit up, realising that your ankles were also tied together. Looking down, you saw rope making your restraints.

A low groan makes you jump and your eyes shot up to see a naked male on the floor opposite you. Your eyes widened at the sight. Much like you, he was restrained but in comparison, your rope and tied limbs looked like paradise.   
He had metal chains wrapped around his wrists and ankles, what looked like barbed wired threaded within the chains. It was only then you noticed the dried blood on his body, especially around where the metal touched his body.   
Another loop of barbed chain wrapped twice around his slim waist, either end either connecting to the chains on his wrists or ankles.

Pure horror shot through your veins, turning your blood to ice finding three loops of barbed chain wrapped tight around his throat.

"Ohmygod." You breathed out in a distressed whisper, your hands automatically coming up to cover your mouth, afraid of who might hear your words.

As you realised what had lead you to this moment, the male in front of you suddenly mattered so much less and your head whipped from side to side in search of your companion that you could only hope was still breathing.

Hobi was nowhere to be found and fear welled further up your throat making you feel sick to your stomach.

"No no no no, where is he?" You spoke shakily, forcing yourself up onto your knees to look around the area.

The place you were in didn't even register in your mind. You could've been in a castle and you still wouldn't have noticed, you were too preoccupied with thoughts of Hobi.

As it happens, you were not in a castle but unlike most kidnapping horror stories, you were not in a dingy run down warehouse located in some remote place far away from civilisation with blood stains on the floor.  
The walls around you were white, the floor and ceiling too.   
On the other side of the room stood a large metal bench, one similar to the one in the medical office at the shelter but this one had multiple thick leather restraints attached.   
Behind the bed stood tall a cupboard from floor to ceiling. Beside that a wall mounted rack full of terrifying tools, some looked medical, some looked made for DIY and some pure medieval torture devices. But, you didn't notice any of that.

You realised that besides you and the naked man, the room was empty.   
As hope began to tingle within at the thought of having a fighting chance, your eyes finally settled on the bars surrounding you and the man.   
You were in a cage that took up half the room. A crude toilet in one corner consisting of a bucket with a roll of paper beside it.

"Fuck, no." Your voice turned desperate and you fell back against the wall to sit on your backside, holding your knees up against your chest. "What the fuck am I going to do?"

The man groaned again but you were too busy both internally and externally panicking to pay him any attention, at least until he yelped in pain, shocking you back to the present situation.

"D-don't move." You managed to stammer out and he froze. "It's barbed." But, he didn't listen and turned, rolling painfully on the chains, wincing as the spikes dug further into his flesh just so he could look at you. His eyes widened and you could see nothing but fear and pain in his orbs.

"No...Y/N..." He whispered and your heart stopped for a second. "No, why did they have to take you too?" He shuffled closer to you on his side but you moved further away causing him to stop. "I won't hurt you, fuck, the last thing I'd ever want is to hurt you."

"How do you know my name?!" You demanded, all rationality flying out the window. This naked man before you was a complete stranger, you were certain you hadn't even seen him fleetingly in the streets. Strangely enough though, his voice struck something within your mind, it sounded familiar but for the life of you, you didn't understand why.

"Oh...shit." Realisation washed over his features and he pushed himself up carefully into a seating position, once again ignoring the metal piercing his body. "This is never how you should've found out."

"Found out what?!"

"About me, about Yoongi, about Jungkook and Jimin and Namjoon and Seokjin and Taehyung."

"Y-Yoongi?" Despite the situation being so dire, at the mention of his name, your heart hurt. "Y-you know him?" He nodded. "Who are you?" Your voice was quiet again. You didn't have it in you to yell anymore.

"I'm Hoseok." Your eyes blew wide at the mention of Yoongi's best friend. "Has Yoongi mentioned me?" It was your turn to nod. "Okay, that's good." He smiled awkwardly. "I never wanted to meet you like this." He motioned to his body, only then realising he was naked. "Ah that's even worse." Somehow, he laughed lightly and you wondered what kind of guy could find any kind of humour in the situation you found yourselves in.

"What about you all?" You prompted. "Are you guys involved in something? Is this gang stuff?"

"What?" He barked out a laugh and you frowned. "No, Y/N, we're not involved with the mafia or gangs or anything bad. We're all just normal guys well, I mean, ignoring our nonhuman sides."

"Your what?"

"We...We're all shapeshifters, Y/N." You stared for a moment before glaring angrily. "I know, we should've told you a long time ago but Yoo-"

"Fuck off." Hoseok clamped his mouth shut. "What kind of a fucking idiot do you take me for? Fucking shapeshifters?!" You laughed humourlessly, the sound being only dry and dark. Hoseok swallowed at the noise, you had never sounded like that and he wanted it to go. Honestly, angry Y/N kind of scared him.   
"This isn't a movie, Hoseok, fuck, is that even your name? Are you one of them, working to try and get something from me? Well, I can tell you, I have nothing of worth to anyone. If you want to kill me, just do it, I'm done with my life."

"W-what?" He paled at your confession. "No, Y/N." Ignoring your shuffles to get away from him, Hoseok moved over to grip your hands in both of his, his eyes suddenly looking so broken and distraught. "No, you can't be done with your life. You have so much to give. Seokjin-hyung is going to teach you to be a vet. You can help so many animals like you helped Bob!"

"H-how do you know that?"

"I told you, I'm Jung Hoseok, best friend to Min Yoongi." He smiled but it was full of pain. "He'd hate to hear you talk like this."

"He'd hate to hear me talk full stop, Hoseok." You scoffed. "But none of this is important, tell me the truth, Hoseok, none of that shapeshifting bullshit."

"It's not bullshit, Y/N, I swear. All seven of us are shapeshifters." You only stared at him, still not believing his words, jaw tense. "We weren't born this way, we were human at one point but something happened to us all and now we have animal DNA within us." He could see that you didn't believe him and looked down at his hands, pulling them from your own. "You see this?" He showed you the mark on his right palm. It looked eerily familiar to you. "You recognise it, don't you?" An honest nod moved your head in confirmation. "Every shapeshifter has this mark somewhere on their body in both forms. Mine is on my right palm and my front right paw." Then it hit you, why it was so familiar. Your eyes snapped back up to him and he smiled softly. "Yeah."

"Hobi." You muttered and he nodded. "No way."

"I'm Hobi, Y/N. I've been by your side almost every day for months. I was with you at the park, I saw him approach you from behind and tried to run to you but the other guy, he roped me and tranquilised me."

"Why? Why would they do this?"

"Shapeshifters are insanely fucking valuable on the black market. It's partly an ownership thing and partly some fucked up fetish. Some shifters can just change part of their bodies on demand so cat and dog-shifters are especially highly sought after, for the ears and tails."

"Furries." You spoke without even meaning to and Hoseok cracked up.

"Yeah, furries." He grinned, no longer noticing the wire digging into his throat every time he spoke or moved. You did though as fresh blood trickled out from the wounds and down his bare skin.

"Why would they do this to you? This is barbaric." You reached up to run your fingertips just under the bottom row of spines in his throat.

"I can't shift without ripping myself apart." He explained. "But don't worry too much, once it's off, I'll heal fine, the spikes aren't too deep in, nowhere near far enough to do any major damage, I'd not get them money dead or badly damaged."

"Why are you so calm about this?!" You shrieked in disbelief. Practically all fear had left Hoseok and he looked pretty much indifferent.

"Freaking out won't benefit me. It'll only use up energy and make you freak out too."

"Oh..right." You nodded and although it felt practically impossible, you started to calm down. "Do we know anything about the situation?" You asked, looking around to really take in the room that time knowing that Hobi/Hoseok was right in front of you.

"No." Hoseok frowned, turning to look around too. "I imagine they'll torture me for information. You're innocent in this and they figure you know nothing."

"Okay." You nodded before speaking again. "They'll kill me when they get what they want from you, won't they?" Hoseok didn't answer so you looked back at him. His whole body was stiff. "It's okay, I'm not delusional, I know that I'm a liability, that's the only reason they brought me along. They couldn't leave me at the park, I'd alert people to your kidnapping and I saw the guy that grabbed you, I could point the finger and get them caught."

"I don't want to admit how right you are. I don't want anything to happen to you." Hoseok looked desperate at the thought of any harm coming to you but you just shrugged and looked back around the room. "Do you-do you really not care if you die?" You only answered with another shrug as you had spotted a blanket just outside of the cage and got up on your knees to shuffle over. "Y/N." Hoseok's voice reflected his desperation for your safety but you ignored him to squeeze your arms through the gap to grasp the material.

It took a good few tries before you managed to have a good enough grip and pull it through the bars.   
You went straight back to Hoseok and carefully wrapped the material around his body.

"You take it, shapeshifters run higher than humans," he muttered, trying to fight your hands weakly but you glared at him. He quickly lowered his arms to allow you to finish bundling him up.

"You're naked, Hoseok, you need this more than I do." He made a face showing he was uncertain. "Fine, if not for the sake of warmth, keep it for the sake of me not having to see your penis flapping around everytime you move."

"Oh." Red painted his face and he had the decency to look away in embarrassment while clutching the blanket tighter to his body. "Sorry."

"Not your fault." You settled back down, eyes still scanning the room for anything that could be of use to you two.

"Actually, it is, I never wear clothes when I know I'm going to shift." You looked at him curiously. "The others do but, I prefer to just be naked anyway no matter my form." He chuckled.

"You can wear clothes when you shift?"

"Yeah. Of course, you can never see them but they become like another layer of skin under fur or whatever."

"Oh, they don't get damaged?"

"Only if we get injured." You made a noise of consideration but said nothing and returned to your task of looking around. "What are you doing?"

"Looking for something useful."

"There's nothing, they won't leave anything close enough that could benefit us in any way."

"Blanket."

"That's different."

"How?"

"It's not a weapon or escape tool."

"We could wrap it around someone's throat and choke them to death," Hoseok said nothing so once again, your attention returned to him.

"Honestly, I think I'm kind of more scared of you right now more than our kidnappers." He chuckled and your lips twitched up into a smile.   
"You're taking this all pretty well."

"Like you said, no point freaking out, it'll only use up energy and rub off on the other."

"You're trying to plan an escape."

"Well...I've got to do something. I can't just sit here and not keep my mind busy or else I will go crazy."

"True." Hoseok moved closer until he was sat shoulder to shoulder with you and also looked out around the room.

For a good ten minutes or so, you both surveyed the room carefully, discussing potential ideas but inevitably shooting them down upon talking them out until the dead end.

A click of a key echoed around the room so you both looked over to the door as it opened.  
In walked the man you saw grab Hobi. Your body tensed up at the sight of the man and Hoseok moved closer to you, placing his hand on your thigh comfortingly so you calmed knowing getting angry would not be worth it.  
But the second the next man entered the room, nothing Hoseok could do would possibly calm you.

"J-Jeremy?" 


	11. Chapter 11

Everything seemed to start spinning around you.   
Your stomach turned and its contents pushed its way up your throat, threatening to spill out everywhere but you swallowed down the feeling.

"Seriously?" Your voice was weak, tears already gathering in your eyes.

Jeremy couldn't even look at you. He walked straight over to the metal bench and opened the restraints.

"Aw look at that." The unnamed man cooed mockingly as he got closer to the cage. "You really did a number on her, Adam. I wish I could take a picture of how dumb you look right now." He sneered at you and Hoseok growled defensively. You put your hand over his and he calmed enough to fall silent. "Growl at me again and I'll cut your fucking tongue off, disgusting shapeshifter." He spat.

"Cut it off and he'll be worthless." You retorted without thought. Hoseok tensed up and looked at you incredulously. ~~Jeremy~~ _Adam_ even looked up at you, bewildered by your blunt words, accompanied by a tone he'd never heard on you. Your voice was entirely devoid of any emotion and even the unnamed man was a little unnerved.

"She's right, Tan," Adam mumbled, eyes stuck on you, trying to understand what was going on in your mind, you were way too calm and robotic for someone who had just found out the man they had been dating had kidnapped them. For a moment, he wondered if you had mentally and emotionally shut down to prevent yourself losing your mind but, he could still see your eyes working with the same life he saw in them the afternoon previous at the shelter. It may've been small but there was still something flickering in your eyes and the fact he didn't know what it was despite being certain he knew you so well concerned Adam deeply.

"Tan?" You repeated. Adam nodded simply. "And Adam?" He hesitated, swallowing hard before nodding. "Sounds like a shitty comedy movie. Like Dumb and Dumber just more pathetic and brain dead."

"What the fuck?" Tan muttered, unable to hide his shock at your words. You were insulting him as if he didn't have the upper hand over your life. You were winding him up despite being in shock only minutes ago as Jeremy was revealed to be Adam, your kidnapper.   
But, he quickly straightened his back and glared at you. He needed to be in control. He would not let some girl have the upper hand.   
"You're brave for a girl tied up behind bars-"

"The fact I'm tied up and behind bars means I'm a threat to you." Once again, your words knocked Tan back a little.

"W-what?" He forced out a laugh to hide his unease. "You couldn't do anything to me, look at you, you're weak, you're small, there's nothing you could do to me. My right bicep is as big as your head." He wasn't wrong.   
Now that Tan wasn't wearing unsuspecting clothing, you could make out his build better. He was broader than even Seokjin and you could tell it was pure muscle. Briefly, you wondered if he had to have his t-shirts tailor-made to fit over the copious amount of bulging muscles.

"I never said I'm physically a threat but your need to try and regain control of the situation by drawing attention to your muscles is rather entertaining. I'm not blind, none of us are, you clearly hit the gym a lot, how much of that is pure strength and how much is steroids? You know no matter now much you work out, you can't do anything about your pathetic little pindick, right?"

Tan lost his cool and pounced forwards, slamming his hands against the bars and spat in your direction. You flinched away from the disgusting bodily fluid but it landed nowhere near you.

"I guess your mouth game needs improvement too." Your lips curled up into a wicked smirk. Just as Tan was about to practically rip the lock off the cage, Adam rushed over and stood in the way.

"She's doing this on purpose," Adam announced, not entirely sure of your intentions but he knew that Tan would ruin everything if he stormed into the cage with fists flying. Adam had seen enough of Hobi's protectiveness over you to know that some barbed chains wouldn't stop Hoseok from bolting up and protecting you, no matter the irreparable damage he'd risk.   
"If you go in there, this whole mission will be ruined. Go get some air and calm the fuck down." Tan glared strongly at you and usually, you'd hide away, in fact usually you'd never rile someone up especially when you were certain they could squash your skull between their thighs but for some reason, your mouth was running faster than your mind and common sense and you couldn't seem to stop it.

You lifted your hand and wiggled your fingers with a Cheshire grin stretching your cheeks as Tan walked towards the door. That set him off and he threw his arms out to grab the first instrument of torture on the rack. He turned to approach the cage but Adam was still stood in front of the door. An animalistic shriek of pure burning rage ripped from Tan's throat and he threw down the item before finally leaving the room, slamming the door behind him earning the loudest door slam you had ever experienced. It honestly hurt your ears a little and you felt bed as Hoseok flinched down to curl up. Hoseok was part dog and you only then figured it must mean he had certain similarities, such as more sensitive hearing than humans. But you couldn't linger on it as much as you wanted to wrap your arms around him and cover his ears until the pain left. You couldn't give up face and simply stroked your fingers on his knee slightly. As soon as Adam moved, turning towards you both, you put your poker face back on.

"I don't know what your plan is, Y/N but you need to stop." He warned.

"Why do you assume I have a plan?"

"Because you wouldn't recklessly endanger another life like that. You may be reckless with your own but you would not put anyone else in danger." He gave a pointed look in Hoseok's direction. When his eyes returned to you, you saw his features tremble for a a second but they returned to the stern look that he turned to you wearing originally.  
"You're not only risking your life, you're risking his."

"No I'm not. You want him. He's valuable to you. Any damage done to him risks being irreparable. I'm assuming you planned to use me to get to someone from the beginning, you've had a good few months to grab him but you've only just attempted to. Clearly, this wasn't an easy feat. I'm guessing you also have a deadline." Adam's jaw tensed and you smirked knowing everything you said was correct. "Your deadline is close, you don't have time to grab someone else if you fuck this up. Plus, once the others realise what has happened to him, you know they'll be on edge, prepared so you have no chance to take any one now. He's your only chance, your only option. I don't know who you work for but if this is the business you're in, they can't be a very nice person. I don't imagine they treat fuck ups kindly, Adam." His features fell then but not for the reason you expected.

"I wish it wasn't you." He admitted, his tone soft and full of honesty. You tried not to let your confusion show but, it did. "From the first moment I saw your genuine concern for Bob, I knew you were too good for this. I didn't want to use you, Y/N, fuck, I never wanted to hurt you, I kept pushing this further back hoping I could find a way around using you to get to the shifters but, you were the only option." Gingerly, he reached up to wrap his hands around the bars, stepping as close as possible to stare into your eyes with sincerity. "If there's anything I can do to prove how sorry I am, how genuine my feelings for you are, just say it. I'll do anything."

"Let Hoseok go."

"You asked the one thing I can't give you."

"It's the only way you'll ever prove yourself to me. If you truly care about me, let him go."

For precisely three and a half seconds, Adam genuinely looked as if he was thinking about it, as if he was going to accept your terms and let Hoseok go but inevitably, he didn't.

"I'm sorry, Y/N. I can't do that."

"Then we're done here." You could practically see how much heartache Adam was suffering but he no longer mattered to you. A decent person would never do such a thing to innocent people.

"I'm sorry."

"No you're not." You scoffed, turning your attention away from him signalling you were really done with him.

Adam's whole body sagged as he backed off. He opened his mouth to say more but he knew nothing he could say would sway you so he simply let his lips set into a deep frown as he returned to the table.

For a good ten minutes, the room was silent bar for the sounds of shuffling as Adam moved around to set up whatever he needed to. When he was finished, he left wordlessly.

The second the door shut, you were up on your knees and shuffling towards the bars.

"What're you doing?" Hoseok whispered, not sure if anyone was on the other side of the thick, soundproof door. "Y/N!" He hissed when you ignored him. He quickly shuffled over to try and see what you were doing but your front was pressed tightly against the bars and your hands struggling to reach through.

"Fuck, so close." You groaned, pulling back to look around. Your eyes landed on the blanket around Hoseok's body. "Let me borrow that a minute."

"Why?"

"Just trust me." Hoseok trusted you with everything in him, even if he didn't understand what the hell was going on in your brain right then and hadn't since you started to backtalk Tan. He quickly removed the blanket and put it in your hands. Instantly, you adjusted the length to suit your needs and tied a loose knot in one end. You hooked your arms back through the bars with the blanket and tossed the knot forward. Immediately, you made a gleeful noise and tugged it back.   
Hoseok shuffled over slightly to peer forward, pressing his head against the bars to see what the metallic scraping was.   
Under the knot he could make out green handles of some kind of tool.  
Then Hoseok understood what you had been doing from the get-go.  
You had counted on Tan losing his temper, somehow you knew he would and would go for a tool.   
Hoseok didn't understand how you knew the tool would end up anywhere near the cage but he didn't dwell on it right then. He moved to reach forward and extend his arms through the bars as best as he could. You tugged the blanket again, trying to aim the tool towards Hoseok's outstretched hands but the material slid off the item revealing pliers to his eyes for the first time.

It took a few attempts to get the knot back onto the pliers and make it move your desired item close enough but you managed and Hoseok hooked his fingertip over the handle. He just about managed to get the necessary grip to pull the item closer. Once he could hold the handle better he gripped the green plastic cover and flicked his wrist, sending the tool into the cage.

You both made small, quiet noises of celebration and gathered the blanket and tool to take them back over to your space.   
Hoseok one again wrapped the blanket back around his body while you inspected the pliers.

"How'd you know he'd throw them near enough?" He finally asked, voicing the one question on his mind.

"I didn't but I had to try." You confessed, slipping the tool under your hoodie and shirt to tuck into the waistband of your jeans on your hip. Your eyes fell on the knot in the corner so you quickly removed it before someone could return and spot it.

The door handle started to move and Hoseok tensed. You allowed your careless persona to return.

"Who knew you'd be so much trouble." A new voice spoke as a man entered the room. He was certainly younger than both Tan and Adam. Honestly, you didn't think he'd be much older than Seokjin, maybe only just touching his 30's at the oldest.  
He didn't look angered or annoyed as he approached the cage, eyes solely trained on you, he looked relaxed and amused.   
"One woman, getting under the skin of a man twice her age and strength."

"He may be physically strong but in every other sense of the word, he's incredibly weak." You answered and he laughed.

"Very true. You figured that out pretty quick, huh?" You didn't answer and he grinned. "You know, I can see why Adam didn't want to involve you. He begged me to let him off the mission but, I didn't understand the issue. I think if it was me having to seduce and win your heart, I'd have been seduced by you too." You only stared, uncertain what to say, if there was anything you could really say.  
"Nevertheless, you are involved now and as I like you, Y/N, I'm going to give you a choice-"

"So thoughtful yet I don't even know your name." You cooed sarcastically and he laughed.

"Right, of course. I'm Jack, I'm in charge of this whole operation."

"You mean black market shapeshifter kidnapping and selling?"

"I guess you could call it that." Jack's smile hadn't left once and it was really getting on your nerves. "Why don't you join me?"

"Taking away freedom from innocent people? I'll pass."

"I don't do any of that stuff, I just, plan, supervise, allocate funds and I have a lot of funds." He smirked at you suggestively. "Come join me and you'll never want for anything again. I can get you anything you want like-" He snapped his fingers "That."

"Not only is the finger-snapping thing completely over used it clearly doesn't work." Jack's head tilted slightly and his eyebrows furrowed, wondering what you were implying. "If it did, you'd be out of my sight."

"Right." He chuckled lowly. "You're going to be here for a while, Y/N and I still like you right now but you should be careful what you say to me unless you want that to change?"

"This is you threatening me, right?" You sighed. "Honestly, I'm not impressed by this whole scenario. The threats are weak and the staff really lacking. You should look into a new team."

"Come join me and you can run your own team."

"Hard pass, sound like a lot of work."

"Or you could just be by my side and get spoiled."

"Hm, I've always wanted a sugar daddy." You mused and you legitimately could've been convinced that Jack's whole demeanour lit up with excitement at the confession. "But you're not my type, sorry darling."

"What is your type? Should I get some cat DNA in me too?" He smirked when your mask cracked, your eyes squaring on him at the mention of Yoongi. "Act all strong and fearless as you like, Y/N but I know you care for that cat shifter, for the mutt beside you. You may not fear what happens to your own body and life but I know for a fact you wouldn't be able to face being the cause of something happening to them."

"You need them."

"Hmm, I do but one out of two still makes for a healthy stack of cash for my collection." Your body stiffened and Hoseok whimpered softly beside you, nuzzling you instinctively sensing your fear. "Think you can manage to give me some respect from here on out now that we understand each other a little better?" You glared but said nothing. "I'll take that as a yes." He chuckled and moved back to slide his hands into pockets of his tailored trousers. "Soon, Adam will return with a new partner as clearly Tan was not the right choice for this mission-" He tutted. "And I expect you to not rile up your new caretaker, understand?"

"Yes." You spoke through gritted teeth and he grinned.

"Wonderful. I'll-" He cut off when there was a bang in the distance coming from past the open door. He tilted his head. "What was that?" He hummed. Just then, Adam ran in looking panicked. "What is it?"

"The others found us." He announced.

"How? I thought you mislead them with her phones GPS."

"I did but...they have a witch in their ranks."


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I haven't said this as of yet but thank you so much for all your love with this story! I love reading your comments and of course, the kudos are wonderful but I enjoy communicating with you guys and seeing what you like and how you feel about this story. So extra big thank you to those of you that comment. I really appreciate every single one so much.

Jack's face paled all at once and all of his confidence melted away at Adam's words.

"A witch?" He mumbled. Adam nodded frantically in confirmation. "Are you sure?"

 

"She's throwing potions and spells, yeah I'm pretty fucking sure." Adam hissed in disbelief that Jack didn't believe him.

 

"Fuck, alright." Jack ran a hand through his hair roughly as he thought. "Get whoever you can and load these two up, we need to get out of here before they reach this side of the complex."

 

"Yes, sir." Adam nodded and ran off. Jack took a second to take deep breaths before turning back to you with an uneasy grin.

 

"Looks like we're moving camp kids." He mused, trying to hide his flinch as a blood-curdling scream filled the air.

 

"I'm betting they get here before you can even open the cage." You smirked. "You're too much of a wimp to open it when no-one else is in here. You won't do a thing without back up. I bet I could even take you." You taunted.

 

"I won't play to your mind games, Y/N." He scoffed. "You may be able to play an insecure man like Tan but I'm much stronger than he is in the ways that matter."

 

"Really? Because I think right now you're shitting your pants. You know that the second any one of them steps foot in this room, you're fucked. You won't be able to hold your own. You said it yourself, you're just a supervisor. You wouldn't know the first thing about protecting your assets physically. You may be the money of the operation but that's all you're good for."

 

Adam ran back in then and pulled a case from the cupboard. It gave Jack opportunity to pretend he was choosing to ignore your comments to focus on Adam when really, Jack didn't have a retort.

"Well?" Jack prompted Adam who sighed heavily.

 

"Everyone's either busy trying to keep them back or have already run in fear," Adam explained.

 

"Why haven't you?" Adam stopped what he was doing and looked over at you longingly.

 

"I can't let something happen to her." For a split second, he wasn't Adam, he was still Jeremy, the man that made every effort to make you smile, that sent flowers and little sweet treats to your place of work every day to make your day start off on a good note. He was the man that donated a large sum of money in your name to the local homeless charity when you stated you wished you yourself could do something to help the homeless in your town one day. He was Jeremy, the man you didn't doubt had all the best intentions for you and the life he wanted with you. But as fast as it happened, it left and he was back to Adam, the man that kidnapped you and one of your best friends to sell someone so important to you on the black market. The man who put money above human life.

 

"Well, then you better get a move on!" Jack snapped urgently and Adam nodded, turning back to the case.

 

"We'll have to tranquilise him, he'll be too strong, even with the binds especially knowing his pack is here." He informed, brandishing the same gun that was used on Hoseok only the day before.

 

"Hope you have one for me too because that's the only way you're getting to him." You informed, moving forward on your knees to place yourself between Hoseok and the cage entrance. Hoseok's hands landed on your lower back and you expected him to push you away but he didn't do anything.  
Adam hesitated, having an internal battle. Part of him, the person he had been for almost his whole life was ready to push you aside to get to Hoseok, to get the payday. But the smaller part of him, the part that had been hidden so deep inside himself until he met you was fighting with all it had to prevent the bad win over. Jeremy was fighting Adam and had no intention of giving up all for you.

 

"I'll do it." Jack scoffed snatching the tranquiliser from Adam's hand. Adam just stood rooted to the spot, his two sides still fighting and leaving him unable to make a decision fast enough. Hoseok's hands bumped your butt and you wanted to look over and see what the hell he was up to but you didn't want to look away from Jack who was rapidly approaching the cage.

Jack's fingers worked quickly to unlock the door and step inside, pulling it shut behind him and sliding the bolt back across.  
When he was only a few metres away, the pressure keeping your ankles bound loosened and you realised what Hoseok had been doing.  
With Jack just a few steps out of reach, the ropes fell from around your ankles and you braced yourself ready to charge forward without alerting Jack or Adam to your feets new found freedom.

Hoseok wasn't stupid, he knew you were going to try and attack Jack the second he got close enough despite his own intention of cutting your ankle restraints with the barbs on his wrists being to give you the chance to run. It dawned on him that he'd have to do something he didn't want to in order to protect you in the long run. Hoseok doubted you'd genuinely be able to overpower Jack for long enough to do much use. Of course you could easily stall him for a few seconds with shock at your sudden unexpected ability to use your legs and maybe knock the needle from his hand but there was a much bigger risk of getting yourself seriously hurt and Hoseok couldn't just sit by and twiddle his thumbs while you risked your life for him.  
No, Hoseok had promised Yoongi that he'd protect you when Yoongi wasn't there, all of them had. All seven shapeshifters swore they would risk their lives to make sure yours never faced serious life-threatening danger. But none of them expected they'd have to take it so literally especially not so soon.

Hoseok stretched out his limbs subtly as he prepared to do what he had to.

Just as you started to propel yourself forward, a hand grabbed your left hip and roughly pushed you aside. You yelped and tumbled to the floor, landing on the pliers making you whimper in pain as the handle dug into your bone.

Hoseok threw the blanket from his body and surged forward, tackling Jack at his waist to knock him backwards. Hosok had hoped it would startle the man enough to force him to drop the tranquiliser but he didn't and before Hoseok could gather his strength after causing the spikes to tear deeper into his waist and drag painfully upwards, there was a thin metal rod piercing his back. He groaned and whined as he felt the liquid travel into his bloodstream. It was a powerful sedative that started to work almost instantly.

Jack pulled the needle out of Hoseok's body to push him aside carelessly, not even looking over when the naked man whimpered, eyes fluttering as he forced them to stay open for as long as possible.

Anger fuelled your movements as you jumped to your feet.

 

"More." Jack demanded, holding his hand out through the bars blindly, refusing to remove his eyes from you. You looked ready to tear him apart given the chance and he certainly wasn't going to give you that moment.

 

"W-what?" Adam replied.

 

"Sedative, give me more."

 

"You can't use the same needle on her-"

 

"Give me more fucking sedative, Adam!" Jack yelled making Adam flinch. Clearly, he was scared of Jack.   
Adam's hand fumbled to grab another load of the sedative and give it to Jack.

 

"I'm so sorry, Y/N." He announced desperately.

 

"Yeah, that's getting real old real fast. Come up with something interesting to say or shut the fuck up." You hissed back, letting your glare flicker to Adam for a moment.   
Jack took those few seconds to glance down, locate the loading slot and slide the capsule inside.  
As soon as he was ready, he darted towards you. The needle scratched your arm when you moved aside the second you felt him close.   
"And I thought you liked me." You spoke as you backed away, circling the inside of the cage opposite Jack who mimicked your movements in an attempt to keep his guard up.

 

"I do, I'd just like you better unconscious."

 

"Kinky." He laughed at your response.

 

"You know, I think I might just keep you as my personal plaything." He smirked and you gagged. Automatically, he rolled his eyes and that's when you threw yourself forward, swinging your still connected arms in an arc until your fists connected with the side of his head. Jack yelled in pain as his body flew sideways. His grasp on the gun loosened enough for the item to fall from his hands.

Your hands throbbed and you suspected some kind of damage occurred, maybe you broke something, maybe just severe bruising but you didn't care right then.   
You kicked out your right leg to connect your foot with the tranquiliser gun and cause it to skid further away, exiting the cage and giving you one less thing to worry about.

"Yep, I'm definitely going to enjoy doing what I want to you," Jack announced clambering to his feet, blood trickling down from the split in his skin on his right cheekbone where your fists made contact.

 

"Leave Hoseok alone and I'll go with you right now willingly. You can do whatever fucked up shit you like, just leave him alone." Your words were full of honesty. If it resulted in Hoseok being left alone, being allowed his freedom back, you'd happily leave with Jack without fight.

 

"Tempting offer but you won't bring me in any money. The money I'd get from your friend there would buy me plenty of women who will do whatever I want from them."

 

"Where's the fun in that?" You tempted. "Getting what you want is boring. Part of the fun is the fight and coming out on top in the end."

 

"A fight is only fun if I win."

 

"I said I'd go with you. I'd only fight enough to make it enjoyable." The cage door opened and you looked over to see Adam entering, eyes trained on you.

 

"Take her offer, she's worth more than a shapeshifter." He encouraged, turning his attention to Jack so you did too, not giving any attention to the fact Adam was slowly getting closer to you. You didn't feel threatened by him.

 

"Like she said, part of the fun is the fight." Jack grinned taking a step towards you. You tensed, ready to fight back but suddenly Adam was by your side and a pain shot into your neck. You gasped and lifted your hands to find the tranquiliser gun pressed against your skin, the needle deep in our neck. Your gaze flitted to Adam questioningly, already feeling the strong effects of the sedative swimming through your bloodstream. Your body grew heavy and you swayed on your feet. Adam tossed the gun down to wrap his arms around you, supporting your weight easily so you didn't hit the floor.

 

"This is the only way you won't get hurt." He whispered, nuzzling his nose against your head. "I'll protect you, Y/N, but you have to let me." You tried to fight his arms but your fingers slid weakly against his shirt until you no longer even had the strength to keep your arms up.

 

"Get your hands off her! In here guys!" Your reactions were slowed tremendously so by the time you had twisted to see who was at the door, the owner was already in the cage and pulling your form from Adam's arms.

 

"You fucking bastard!" You heard from another new voice, the familiar tone making your heart thump against your ribs.

 

Finally, you managed to look up at the one who then held you. It was Jungkook.

 

"Kook." You slurred, dropping your head back and catching sight of Adam on the floor with Yoongi sat on his chest pummelling his fists into his face, eyes dark with rage. "Yoongi." He turned at your voice and even though his face was splattered with blood that wasn't his own, you still smiled at the sight of him.

Namjoon and Jimin were dealing with Jack. Seokjin and Molly were crouched down beside Hoseok and checking him over while carefully removing the barbed chains from his body. Someone you didn't know was rushing around, looking through cupboards for what you had no idea but you decided he must be Taehyung.

Only when you had taken in the safe forms of your friends did you give in and let the sedative take you.

***

When you woke, you were in a room entirely unfamiliar to you.  
For a second, you feared that you were somewhere under Jack's watch but then the fuzzy memory of Jungkook's face peering down at you as he held you protectively in his arms appeared in your mind.   
You had been saved. Your friends had come to the rescue. You were safe. So where in the hell were you?

As carefully as you could, you sat upright, supporting your weight on your hands that you splayed behind you on the mattress.   
Clearly, you were in a bedroom. It was, for the most part, tidy and looked almost as if the majority of items were rarely used due to how perfectly they were aligned.   
A few items were more skewed and placed in places they clearly didn't belong.

There was a familiar scent in the room but you couldn't name it.

Your mind was still thick with fog from the sedative so you picked up your right hand from the bed to rub your forehead as if that would help clear the brain fuzz.  
Suddenly, you remembered how much your hands had hurt the instant they connected with Jack's face and you pulled them both in front of your face. Not a single mark on either which was funny considering that the morning of your abduction, you had burned yourself on the kettle making coffee for your parents.

Movement in the corner of your eye made you tense up. You hadn't seen anyone in the room when you looked around. Slowly, you turned your head towards the source of movement and that's when you noticed the mass of silver fur on top of the bookshelf.

"Suga." You mumbled. At the sound of your voice, he span around, waking up fully from his nap to look at you. Gracefully, he jumped down onto the floor and trotted over to you quickly.   
When he jumped up beside you on the bed, you instinctively held your hand out ready to stroke him but then he morphed. You shuffled away with wide eyes as, before your very eyes, Suga turned into Yoongi.  
Even if you had for some reason been sceptical about shapeshifters existing before that moment, there was no way you could deny it any longer.

 

"How are you feeling?" Yoongi asked, eyes scanning you for any sign of damage to your body.

 

"You just changed from a fucking cat into a human right in front of me, how the fuck do you think I'm doing?" You hissed and he flinched, letting his head hang slightly so he looked at you through his lashes. "Honestly, what the fuck, Yoongi?"

 

"I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't have done that but I needed to talk to you, ask if you're okay."

 

"Oh, I'm just splendid. I had a great day, getting kidnapped and finding out I've been lied to for months, you know that just makes me so happy." You laughed sarcastically.

 

"You've been asleep for three days." He pointed out and you glared.

 

"That is what you're going to say? You're going to correct my time?"

 

"I thought you'd want to know." Yoongi looked down at the covers over your lap and you did too, only then realising you weren't wearing your clothes anymore.

You were in a plain black t-shirt and although you couldn't see your legs, the material was long and cinched at your ankles. You assumed you wore jogging bottoms.

 

"Whose clothes are these?" You mumbled, pulling at the shirt to lift it up and smell the material. "...This is yours, isn't it?"

 

"Yeah." He laughed lightly without humour. "The first time you're in my clothes isn't even from your own choice." He mused. "I've always wanted to see you wearing my clothes just, never like this. I never wanted this to happen, Y/N."

 

"I know, I don't imagine you did." You looked around the room once more then at him. Yoongi was already looking at you, his eyes full of pain and a frown pulling his lips down. "So this is what your room looks like." He nodded softly, not really wanting to talk about his room but he wanted to let you work at your own pace. "Hm, it's not very lived in."

 

"I prefer cat form." He admitted quietly. "I don't spend a lot of time as a human so I don't use a lot of the stuff in here regularly."

 

"Hm, okay." You hummed. "So about that...you're like what, half cat?"

 

"Uh, sort of, I guess. I don't know the actual percentages, none of us do, we don't really care but we all suspect Hoseok has the most animal DNA out of us all." He smiled lightly at the thought of his best friend. "He's kind of like a dog even when he's human-" You hummed again and he sighed. "I'm really sorry you had to find out like this."

 

"You never had any intention of telling me, did you? Hoseok said you didn't want me to know."

 

"Honestly, no. I didn't want you to know."

 

"Why? Don't you trust me?"

 

"It's not that, not at all, fuck, I'd trust you with everything I have, everyone I care about, Y/N." Bravely, Yoongi reached out and took your hands into his own. You tried not to react but your heart was racing a mile a minute and Yoongi could see your eyes widen at the contact but he didn't let go. He couldn't make himself give up touching you after not being able to for so long.  
"I was scared you'd run away." He sighed and shuffled closer to you. "Before I became one, I never knew shapeshifters were real, I thought they were just in movies and shitty stories. All I knew was humans. Few people know that supernatural beings exist. I was scared you'd think I'm crazy and leave me or believe me and not want anything to do with me. I've only just really come to terms with being part cat part human and it's been six years since it happened, I couldn't expect you to be okay with this." You wanted to argue with him and tell him you would've been okay with it, you wouldn't have left for something like this, for something that was a big part of him but honestly, you didn't know if that would've been the truth. You had no idea how you would've reacted if he told you so you ignored it entirely.

 

"You've been this way for six years?" He nodded. "How? Like...what happened? Hoseok said something happened to each of you to become a shapeshifter but he didn't elaborate how or why it happens. Does it run in your family or something?"

 

"No, nothing like that." He frowned and held your hands a little tighter. Something in you told you it was for his own sake not yours, his own comfort. "It was a way to save me, to save us all."

 

"What?"

 

"If Molly hadn't turned me, I would've died, Y/N."

 

"...What?" Your body turned cold at the thought of Yoongi dying. "How?" Your question was a whisper but he heard you.

 

"I uh...I had a lot of issues when I was a teenager, I was bullied and not really accepted. I hated everything and everyone but mostly myself. I felt I didn't deserve to live because I only tainted the world. One day, I got up, put a note on the fridge then went across town and jumped off a bridge." A lump caught in your throat and tears welled up in your eyes.

Never in a million years would you have guessed Yoongi had been depressed. Never would you have looked at Yoongi and thought he had tried to commit suicide in his life.   
But then again, the same could be said by people that had met you.

You held his hands tight, silently telling him you knew exactly how that felt and for the first time, Yoongi believed someone understood his pain. He believed you and you hadn't said a word.

"Anyway, Molly and Seokjin found me near dead floating in the river and took me home. Molly worked her magic, literally, and when I woke up I felt different. It took a few days for them to tell me that Molly had magically altered my DNA to keep me alive."

 

"She gave you cat DNA to keep you alive?"

 

"Ah no, not exactly. She did a spell that gave me some extra DNA that was floating around in The Inbetween as she calls it." You raised your eyebrows, questioning what the hell he was talking about. "When animals die, their souls are just left floating around with nowhere to go so the spell makes use of that and bonds a human soul to one of those animal souls. The witch doesn't know what animal until the patient changes for the first time." You made a sound of understanding so he continued. "I refused to change for weeks, not wanting to be part animal but then one day out of curiosity when I was alone, I did and from that moment, I've lived most of my time as a cat."

 

"Is there a reason for the cat DNA like, is that what is best suited for you?"

 

"Uh, I guess so." He shrugged. "Honestly, I've never asked but Molly believes strongly in fate so she'd no doubt chalk it up to that."

 

"How did the others change into shapeshifter? Did Molly make all of you?"

 

"Yeah, we were all in various states of death and she saved us all."

 

"Were they dying for the same reason as you?"

 

"Do you mean did they all try to kill themselves?" You nodded. "No, just me. Some were accidents, some illness. Hoseok had been dying for a long time, he had some kind of rare untreatable disease that he refuses to name because it doesn't affect him anymore. He suffered for two years before Molly found him in a hospice trying to cheer up the kids and make their last days better. She told him what she was and that she could help him and ever since, he's done all he can to make others happy."

 

"Maybe that's why he's more animal than the rest of you." You suggested and Yoongi furrowed his brows in confusion. He didn't understand at all what you meant. "Because he was dying for so long, he needed more animal DNA to save him."

 

"Oh." Slowly his eyes widened. "I've never thought of that. You know, you could be right." He chewed his lip. "You're taking all this well as if we're talking about something every day, not learning that we're all not entirely human, that we all nearly died but were saved by a witch."

 

"Well, this is every day for you guys."

 

"But not you."

 

"I just want to understand it all. I want to know what I risked my life to protect." Yoongi's expression suddenly darkened and you leant back slightly. "You alright?"

 

"Hoseok said you acted like a fucking idiot." He stated sharply. "How could you endanger yourself like that, Y/N?!"

 

"Fuck off, don't yell at me for protecting your best friend."

 

"That's not what I'm mad about. I'm mad because you were reckless! You purposely angered a man twice your size! You picked fights with the head of the whole orgasnisation. You tossed your life around as if it means nothing!"

 

"It doesn't." Yoongi froze, his anger dissipating and pain returned to his eyes.

 

"Wh-what? Y/n...don't say that. You were doing so well. You've improved so much since you started working here. I've seen you progress every single day. You were doing great, why are you saying such things?" His words were weak and they only grew shakier as he spoke. You felt guilty then, for upsetting him so much and swallowed down the lump rapidly forming in your throat.  
"What happened to you?"

 

"You." His eyes blew wide. His lip trembled as if he wasn't sure if he wanted to talk or cry and you had to look away so you didn't break down.  
"You made me so fucking happy Yoongi but then in only seconds, you broke me. You're right, I was doing great, I thought I was better but then you broke my heart and the rose coloured hue shattered showing the grey that it was shielding me from. I remembered how fucked up the world is without you around to block it out."

 

"I'm so fucking sorry." He choked, fumbling to grip your hands tight but you pulled them away from his reach to move the covers off your lap. "Y/N." He pleaded when you turned your back to him, swinging your legs off the bed. As soon as your feet were planted firmly on the floor, you got up. "Don't go."

 

"You don't want me Yoongi, I'm not staying for a man that doesn't want me."

 

"I do, so fucking much. I want nothing more than you. You're everything to me, Y/N. Please, don't leave me." He begged. He fought back the sobs that threatened to leave his throat as he helplessly watched you walk to the door.   
Hope shot through his body when you stopped and looked over at him. You had tears in your eyes but were stubbornly refusing to let them fall.

 

"I need to go home. I've been through too much to face you right now." You spoke before taking a deep breath. "I need to be away from you for a while." A sob broke from Yoongi's mouth. You couldn't hold back the tears that fell at the sound, it was so broken and full of hurt that your heart broke all over again. "You'll be okay, Yoongi." You whispered, unable to make your voice any louder. And then you left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning, shit is going to be intense in the next chapter. It deals with depression and suicide and although nothing graphic is depicted or wrote, it is the theme of the next chapter.   
> It continues into part 14 for at least the very beginning  
> But you kind of can't skip the chapters as you'll miss big plot points.  
> If once chapter 14 is up and you don't want to read that stuff, you can message me or whatever and I can state the important plot points so you can read the final chapter...if you can private message on this site, I dunno. I won't put anything about future chapters in the comments.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is not a kind or fun chapter. Deals with depression and suicide. You have been warned.

For weeks, you didn't leave your house, you hardly left your room and you certainly didn't touch your phone. If you had, you would've seen the dozens of calls and texts from Molly and the guys, especially Yoongi, he had text you every day and after the third day, you let your phone die. If you had kept it charged, you would've seen the messages telling you that Yoongi needed you. That you needed to respond to him, he was slipping down because he didn't know what to do without you in his life.  
At least when he walked away from you all those weeks ago, your mutual friends could relay your wellbeing to him, tell him you were still alive and going about your life even if you weren't yourself. At least back then, he knew you were still okay.  
But you weren't talking to anyone and he feared the worst.  
Many times he tried to convince Molly to let him go to your house but she refused. Every time he tried, he found himself back at the apartment due to the charm she had used on him without him realising until he left.  
If you had charged your phone, you would've seen the voicemails from Yoongi and heard him rambling on about how important you were to him, how in love he was with you.  
But, you didn't so you didn't read any of the messages, you didn't hear his confessions.

 

Exactly a month after you woke up in Yoongi's bed, you woke up feeling oddly numb.  
You got up without issue and went to the bathroom to use the toilet and brush your teeth.  
You returned to your bedroom to sit up to your computer and type up a letter. You read it through and printed it.  
You got dressed and tucked the letter into an envelope that you wrote Molly's full name on then tucked it into your hoodie pocket.  
You went downstairs and hugged your mum who was in the kitchen. She was surprised at your presence so early in the day. It was only 8:30 am and lately, you didn't get out of bed until 4 pm.

 

"I love you." You muttered and she held you tight.

 

"I love you too." She replied.

 

You let go and made your way into the living room where your dad was sat on the sofa watching TV. You sat next to him and cuddled up to his side. He put down the remote to hold you close.

 

"Are you alright?" He asked. You nodded. You weren't sure if it was a lie or not.

 

"I love you." You stated.

 

"I love you too." He replied holding you tighter and resting his head on top of yours.

 

You let go and so did he reluctantly.

 

"I'm going to the shelter." You announced getting up and going to the entrance hall.  
You put your boots on and left.

 

***

 

Looking up at the shelter you understood why it always looked odd to you. There was clearly only two floors to the building, the ground floor and the first floor. You knew there was another level from your time in the apartment but as you had never been up to to the second floor, your brain easily dismissed it when you stood outside. But now standing there looking up at the building, you knew there was an entire floor missing.  
You wondered what kind of magic that was briefly but you didn't linger on it.

 

Lowering your gaze, you saw a familiar face at the entrance door.

Ever since your first day, Hobi had greeted you but for the first time, his human form stood there, staring at you longingly and waiting patiently for you to approach. You saw his hands twitching at his side and knew he wanted to walk over to you but he was waiting for you. He didn't want to do anything you didn't want.

Silently, you walked forward and he moved to let you into the building.

 

"Is Molly here?" You asked simply.

 

"She's upstairs." He murmured. "How are you?"

 

"Can I go up?" Hoseok paused, he wanted to know how you were, it had been so long since he last saw you. He didn't even see you when you woke from the sedative, the last he saw of you, he had pushed you out of the way and knocked you to the floor.

 

"I'm sorry."

 

"Does she not want to see me?"

 

"No, not that." He reached out and took your hand carefully into his own. You looked down at your connected hands then up at him, not a single emotion showing on your features. It hurt his heart. "For everything that happened."

 

"I'm not mad."

 

"I hurt you, I pushed you."

 

"I understand why, you were trying to protect me. I'm not mad." You repeated. Despite wanting to talk about it all, Hoseok nodded and let your hand go. It was clear you didn't want to entertain him.

 

"I'll lock the door then we can go up." He announced.

 

"I can go alone, it's okay, I only want to give her something." Hoseok paused for a second on his way to lock the entrance door but quickly continued and shook his head.

 

"No, everyone wants to see you, I'll lock up." He insisted and you didn't have the energy to argue.

 

It took only a few minutes for Hoseok to secure the reception area and flick the sign to closed. Then, you were walking alongside him through the hallway.

 

"Noona." You looked over as you passed the kitchen to see Jungkook and Jimin stood there. You didn't stop walking so they ignored their tasks to follow you.

 

Like always, the apartment door was wide open when you approached. Hoseok entered first and you followed to the living room.

Molly and Seokjin were sat on the couch leant forward to stare at the mass of papers spread over the coffee table. They looked like official documents and when you got closer, you recognised the logo for the local university on one of the sheets.

 

"Oh, Y/N." Molly greeted with a soft smile. "It's good to see you again."

 

"We just finished breakfast but I can make you some if you want, I know you love my omelettes." Jin grinned.

 

"No thank you." You replied plainly and they both frowned.

 

Feet scurried down the stairs and to the living room but you didn't look over.

 

"I'm only here to give you this." You took the envelope from your pocket to hand to Molly.

 

"What's this?" She asked a little too quietly to not already know.

 

"My letter of resignation." The room fell eerily silent as if a heaviness took over stopping everyone from making a single noise. At least until Yoongi's destroyed tone pierced the air.

 

"No!" He argued stomping over from the doorway to grab you, turning your body to look at him.

He looked as broken as you felt. 

Deep, dark purple bags under his eyes.  
Sunken cheeks.  
Pale skin.  
Greasy, messy hair.  
But he still had emotions floating around in his eyes, even if it was dull.  
Your eyes were empty even looking at him.

"You can't resign!" He spat. "You need to be here! We need you!"

 

"I can't be around any of you anymore." You spoke bluntly, pushing his hands off your shoulders and stepping back to look over the faces.

 

Everyone was in the room, even Namjoon and Taehyung had appeared upon hearing your presence finally return.

 

"W-what?" Hoseok sputtered. "Y/N, no, please don't hate us."

 

"I don't hate you." You clarified, letting your eyes rest on him as you spoke. "I just don't trust any of you anymore."

 

"I-I don't think that's any better." He tried to joke but he couldn't even muster the power to force a smile let alone put humour into his tone.

 

"I worked here for months, you let me into your home, I let you into my life, into my heart but not once did any of you try to hint at the truth." You looked over at them all, making certain they all knew how serious you were. How serious the situation was. "You hid your true selves from me, you lied to me for months about who you are. If you can lie about your DNA, what else could you possibly lie about?"

 

"Nothing, there's nothing else we've hidden from you." Yoongi rushed. "Please Y/N, please believe me."

 

"I wish I could Yoongi, I really do but, I can't. You betrayed my trust and I don't take that lightly. I had enough issues giving people my trust but I tried hard for you all, I trusted you each entirely, I would've told you everything, I would've given you everything you asked but you couldn't even tell me who you are. You've lost my trust and I can't remain here with people I distrust so much." Your full attention turned to Molly then. "I won't ever ask for a recommendation, I won't even put this place down on my CV so don't worry about being contacted in regards to me in the future."

 

"You can. Put me down, I'll happily give glowing recommendations." She insisted.

 

"No, I'd rather try and forget about this place and everyone here." Your words struck deep in every single one of them but you didn't even care. You felt no guilt. You felt no sadness. You felt nothing.

 

"You can't do that, Y/N, you're needed here," Molly stated strongly. "Your fate is entwined with us all, some more than others. You shouldn't try and fight your fate, Y/N, bad things happen to those who do."

 

"No offence but, I couldn't care less about fate and what bad things the world has in store for me. Whatever happens, happens. I'm not fighting anything I'm just...doing what I need to." Not wanting to stick around anymore, you turned and started to leave the room.

 

"Your path lead you here for a reason, Y/N!" Molly called. "Your destiny is right here in this room." Her words passed straight over you. You had no idea what she meant but you didn't want to humour her. You had never put much faith in destiny, you preferred to believe you made your own path and the destination was down to you.

 

Nobody stopped you from leaving though you did hear scuffling as if someone tried but was stopped. You suspected Yoongi had been the one to try and follow you. You were right.

 

When they heard the back exit to the shelter close firmly, Jimin and Namjoon let go of Yoongi. He stayed rooted to the spot for a moment before shifting his body and leaving the room as Suga.

 

The moment he heard the door shut behind you, something dark twisted inside him. Something like a bad, nagging feeling. It didn't sit right with him. Your whole behaviour didn't sit right with him. Your presence was off, as if you weren't even you anymore, as if a big part of you was missing and it made the back of Yoongi's neck tingle.

So, Suga snuck out of the building and followed your scent.

 

***

 

For an hour, Suga slunk along behind you, keeping a close eye on you as you walked through the streets.  
Suddenly, you looked over at the oncoming traffic and stuck your arm out. Suga tensed up, wondering what the hell you were doing but then a bus stopped on the road in front of you and he noticed the bus stop behind you.

He panicked immediately, wondering what the hell he was going to do. The driver certainly wouldn't let a cat on the bus and he couldn't turn back into Yoongi, you'd see him and know he had been following you. Also, he didn't have any money on him to pay the fare even if he could sneak on the vehicle without you noticing.

 

Suga stood and watched helplessly as the bus drove away. His eyes quickly scanned the retreating vehicle to catch the number and destination. It was the next town over and he only grew more lost and confused. What business did you have there? Why would you go there and why the hell did it make the horrible feeling in his stomach spread to his chest?

 

Suga ran into a dark alley between two stores only to come back out seconds later as Yoongi.

He looked around desperately before rushing into the store to his left. It was a little family run cafe.

 

"Do you have a phone?" He asked as soon as he was at the counter. The middle-aged woman behind it looked at him puzzled. "I'm stranded with no phone, I need to call someone to pick me up. I need to be with my girlfriend right now, I can't explain but she needs me. I think she's in trouble." He confessed. The woman considered Yoongi for a moment, wondering if he was a crazy man who just wanted to steal her phone. But the desperation and look of anguish on his face convinced her.

 

"Okay, sure." She pulled her mobile from her pocket and handed it over.

 

"Thank you thank you thank you." He chanted as he took the device and quickly typed in the only number he knew off by heart with trembling hands.

 

_"Hello?"_ His best friend answered, nothing like his usual cheerful self.

 

"Hoseok! I need you to get my car and come get me."

 

_"What? You're not in your room?"_ Hoseok mumbled confused. " _When did you leave?"_

 

"It's not important!" Yoongi shrieked. "Just get my car!" He looked around until he spotted the name of the cafe above the menu on the wall. He relayed the information to Hoseok. "Hurry! It's for Y/N!"

 

_"I'll be right_ there, _"_ Hoseok replied instantly at the mention of you then hung up. Yoongi let out a small breath of relief and handed the device back.

 

"Thank you, I'll come back another day and give you the money for the call."

 

"No, nonsense, it seemed important. I hope everything turns out okay."

 

"So do I."

 

***

 

You had no idea where you were. You had no idea why you flagged down that bus and rode it to a town you'd never been to. You had no idea why you didn't get off in the town centre like you should've logically as that area would be easiest to navigate. You had no idea where your feet were leading you when you got off the bus at the end of its route before it turned and went back the way it came but you didn't question any of it.

 

You let your body move without thinking about it.

 

It felt like you were walking for hours but it was still light by the time your feet planted on the ground and you looked to your right.  
Only then did you realise you were stood on a bridge overlooking a river.

 

Curiously, you walked to the barrier and looked over. It was a long way down.  
For some reason, the only thought running through your mind was "I wonder how much damage it'd do if I fell over".

 

You weren't really paying attention to anything but the surface of the water and next thing you knew, you were sat on the ledge with your legs dangling over the water.

 

Thoughts of Yoongi returned to you then. He appeared in your mind when you climbed on that bus to the town you'd never before visited. He appeared in your mind when you got to your feet and stared down at the unsettlingly calm water.  
Not a single ripple moved the liquid. The surface was so still and lifeless it looked solid, like a murky expanse of concrete.  
You wondered if that is what it'd feel like upon impact.

 

"Is this how he felt?" You mumbled to yourself, recalling the fact that Yoongi had once stood where you were, looking over a mass of water ready to jump.  
Though you had no intention of jumping at least...you didn't want you climbed up there.  
"They'd be okay without me." You didn't know why you were convincing yourself that everyone would be able to live their lives if you weren't there. You didn't know why you accepted your lie so easily.  
The one thing that had kept you going for years was the guilt of hurting your parents, the guilt of even thinking of making them go through the pain of losing their daughter.  
Today, the guilt wasn't there. Nothing was.

 

Even as you shuffled closer to the edge until nothing supported the front half of your feet, you felt nothing. No fear, no pain, no guilt.

 

You felt nothing.

 

Even when you moved that little bit further until all that touched you was the air that flew past your falling body, you felt nothing.


	14. Chapter 14

"You sure she's here?" Hoseok mumbled, glancing out the windscreen as he drove slowly through the streets. Yoongi was in the passenger seat, glued to the window and looking every way possible in hopes of finding you.

They had been in the town for an hour already but there wasn't any sign of you.

 

"Yeah, this is town the bus came to," Yoongi replied distractedly.

 

"Are you sure you remembered the name right? Maybe it was somewhere else. Maybe you got mixed up with the names."

 

"No, I remembered right. I wouldn't mix up this town. This is where I'm from." Hoseok fell quiet then. He knew all about Yoongi's past, there was nothing they didn't know about each other.   
Hoseok had even confessed that he was growing too fond of you and that his heart had started to race when you smiled at him.   
It made their friendship a little uneasy for a while but at the end of the day, Hoseok would never try and act on his feelings for you. It was clear you and Yoongi loved each other.  
Hoseok really did believe that Yoongi was your soulmate.

"Keep going down here," Yoongi instructed, pointing vaguely to the main road they were travelling down.

 

Hoseok meant to follow the instructions, Yoongi had been directing the whole time after all but for some reason, Hoseok took the next left.

 

"What the hell?! I told you to go forward!"

 

"I know! I don't know I just...I had to turn this way, my instincts are screaming at me that we need to go this way, hyung." Hoseok explained apologetically. Yoongi looked over at his best friend and considered his words.

 

"Okay." He finally agreed and allowed Hoseok to drive whichever way he wanted for a good half an hour.   
"There's nothing down this way," Yoongi announced, starting to think that Hoseok was making a big mistake. "This just leads to the river."

 

"I still feel like this is the way we need to go." Hoseok was firm but Yoongi wasn't certain.

Upon taking the next right, they both saw the reason Hoseok took them in that direction.

 

At the bottom of the road was a bridge. On the ledge of the bridge was you.

 

"Fucking go faster!" Yoongi screeched. All speed limits and laws weren't even part of Hoseok's thought process as he sped up as fast as possible to get to you quicker.

But their speed wasn't enough.

 

As soon as they saw you falling forward, Hoseok pushed the car until it screeched to a stop next to where you fell. They both jumped out and Yoongi didn't hesitate to climb up onto the bridge.

 

"Get the car to the bank!" He yelled and then he was diving over, hoping he could save you with everything in him.

 

Hoseok darted back into the car, barely shutting his door before starting to drive madly.

When he found the river bank, he parked as close as he could and clambered out to run to the water's edge.

 

"Help! Hoseok!" Yoongi yelled. Hoseok's head snapped to his left where Yoongi was trying to push your unconscious body up onto the bank. In seconds, Hoseok was there and heaving you up onto the dirt. Blood was spilling from your nose and open mouth. "The car!" Yoongi demanded as he pulled himself out of the water, coughing up fluid.

 

Hoseok scooped up your body and ran back to the car. He struggled to open the back door until Yoongi was there tearing it open. Hoseok climbed into the back, holding you and trying to wake you up while Yoongi slammed the door shut and ran around to jump in the driver's seat.

 

The car pulled away with a screech with Hoseok struggling to recall Seokjin's training and perform chest compressions on you. He didn't doubt you had water in your lungs and knew it needed to come out.

 

"Is she alive?!" Yoongi barked, eyes darting madly across the road as he swerved, taking all the back roads to get through the town quickly.

 

Hoseok stopped what he was doing to try and find your pulse. He couldn't locate it so he leant down and put his ear to your chest.

"Barely!" He straightened back up to return work on your chest. "Come on, Y/N! Wake up!"

 

Yoongi looked in the rearview mirror, feeling his heart breaking at the sight of Hoseok working desperately to save the girl that had both of their hearts in the palm of her hand.

 

***

 

Six bodies stood outside of the shelter silently, watching the car park entrance with their hearts in their throats for the familiar car to approach.

 

The second Yoongi's car came swerving into view, they set into motion.

 

Molly and Jimin rushed into the shelter to the medical office where her supplies were already set up.

Seokjin had a small, emergency defibrillator in his hands ready to attach to your body to keep you going as long as Molly needed to perform the spell.

Jungkook and Taehyung were stood at either end of the metal bed that was usually in the medical office but they had attached the wheels to bring it outside to put you on straight away.

Namjoon had a pump in his hands, Seokjin's instructions on what to do clear in his mind so that he could get all the fluid from your lungs.

 

The car wasn't even stationary when the back door flung open. Hoseok did wait until Yoongi had parked haphazardly only metres from the entrance to clamber out and pull your body out of the car.

Jungkook and Taehyung rushed over with the bed and helped put you on it as Yoongi ran around the car to be by your side.  
Namjoon worked on his task as he sped walk alongside the bed that Jungkook and Taehyung manoeuvred through the front door and into the medical room.  
Your body convulsed as the fluid was expelled from your lungs but you didn't wake.

Seokjin pushed Namjoon aside when he decided that he could do no more to cut open your hoodie and t-shirt so he could access your chest and place the pads on you.

Molly and Jimin lit the candles and placed the dried plants and crystals around your body in a specific way to make the spell work, careful not to touch your body as Seokjin pressed the button to send electric signals into your body in an attempt to get it working again.

 

"You can save her, right?" Hoseok practically begged, tears finally overflowing from his eyes now that he was just watching and the adrenaline had gone. Yoongi was also crying and he was shivering madly from the cold of his wet clothes wrapped around his body but he didn't even notice. His entire focus was on you.

 

"I'll do my best," Molly promised. "Seokjin, it's time." She informed so he stopped performing CPR and stepped back far enough to give Molly space without abandoning the machine. He had full faith in Molly and her magical abilities but he still wanted to have the option to use science if her way didn't work. He didn't want to waste time and risk leaving it too long to save you.  
"Everyone, out."

 

"I'm not leaving," Yoongi announced.

 

"You need to or there's no chance this will work. The room needs to be clear." She gave Yoongi a look. She frowned at the pure agony on his features. "Quickly, Yoongi." He whimpered but nodded and rushed out.

 

All but Seokjin left. He had assisted Molly in saving every single one of the boys so he knew what to do, how to keep his energy steady even if his heart raced.

 

It was harder for them both to keep calm enough not to manipulate the energy of the room with their emotions considering that they were both attached to you but they did everything they could to keep their bodies and minds clear.

 

***

 

The spell only took five minutes from start to finish but for the six in the foyer, it felt like hours, especially for Yoongi and Hoseok.

 

When the door opened, the pair were the first to enter and they stared at your still body with bated breath.

 

"Is...Y/N...did it work?" Yoongi asked, eyes glued to you.

 

"Yes," Molly answered and he let out a heavy breath of relief and turned into Hoseok's arms as they wrapped around him.

 

The pair cried in joy and relief that you would be okay.   
The only thing left to do was to wait for you to wake up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would anyone be interested in a ghost!reader(y/n) story?   
> It's one I wrote ages ago and it's not as long or detailed as PS but, ya know, it's an option if anyone likes ghost stuff. It has mystery parts   
> And includes got7 to an extent  
> Let me know


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter, it is here.
> 
> Thank you to everyone that has read/ left kudos/commented! I love you all and I sincerely hope to see you on other works of mine in the future, I'd love to keep talking to you all and seeing your lovely messages :3

For a full week, you remained motionless in Yoongi's bed. If it wasn't for the obvious sign of your chest rising and falling with steady breaths, they would've thought you weren't alive.

 

Molly and Seokjin checked on your vitals hourly but nothing changed. Everything pointed to you being perfectly healthy, even the fatigue circles under your eyes had evened out after the spell was complete.   
Molly herself had cleaned you up and put you in fresh clothes, once again Yoongi's, before leaving you in his bed to allow you to wake up in your own time.

 

Every single one of the males had taken over 24 hours after the spell to wake up so none of them was particularly concerned but then it turned to 48 hours then 72 and that was when Molly and Seokjin joined the others in concern.  
The longest any of them took to recover was 72 hours and that was Hoseok due to how damaged his body had been from his years of battling disease beforehand.

Molly and Seokjin spent the following days researching possible causes for your prolonged slumber but they both came up short.

 

All of the household checked up on you multiple times a day, fearing you wouldn't wake or they'd miss a change in your situation.

 

Much like the last time you recovered in Yoongi's room, he barely left your side.  
He only left the room to go into the adjoining bathroom. He didn't even leave to eat. Someone always delivered meals to him but he didn't always eat them. The longer you were asleep, the less he ate.

 

At precisely 2:03 am exactly eight days after the spell, your hand twitched and Suga shot upright from where he was curled up against your side, taking comfort in your steady breathing beside him.   
He stared at you, waiting to see if it happened again. When four minutes passed without anything else happening, he decided he must've dreamt it and somehow woke himself up. It wasn't the first time his mind had tricked him after all.

Slowly, he settled back down and once again closed his eyes.   
He was almost asleep when there was a light weight on his back. His eyes flew open and he knew he wasn't imagining it.   
The weight grew lighter until it turned into gentle brushes of small pressure across his back.

Without thought, he turned into Yoongi and looked at you. You had a soft smile on your face and your right hand on his side.

 

"Hi." You greeted quietly. He pounced forward to wrap his arms around you carefully and bury his face into your neck.

 

"You're okay." He spoke repeatedly, relief and joy thick in his voice.

 

"I won't be if you keep leaning on me like that." He jumped backwards and you giggled.

 

"Fuck, I was so scared you weren't going to make it."

 

"Silly kitty." You lifted your hand to hold his face. Yoongi closed his eyes and put his hand over yours to prevent you letting go. "What time is it?"

 

"Uh.." His eyes fluttered open and he looked over to the digital clock on his bedside table. "Gone 2 in the morning."

 

"You think Molly will be mad if we go have a midnight snack?" You grinned and he started to laugh. "What?"

 

"You've been basically in a coma for a week straight and the first thing you want to do is raid our kitchen?" You nodded and his cheeks lifted as he smiled widely. "Okay, let's go eat."

 

You grinned and kicked back the covers dramatically to get up. When you were on your feet, you stopped still and furrowed your eyebrows together.

 

"What? What is it?" Yoongi rushed around to stand in front of you. He held your upper arms and looked at you with concern.

 

"I feel weird." You muttered.

 

"Like ill?"

 

"No just...not myself." You looked down at your body, inspecting everything and not at all surprised to find you were wearing Yoongi's clothes.

 

"Well, you're not entirely anymore. Well, I mean, you are but you're more than just yourself now." Your eyes widened as you realised what he meant.

 

"I'm...like you now?" He nodded. "Oh...well shit." Once again, you looked at yourself. "What happened?"

 

"You don't remember?"

 

"I have a lot of these like, clips in my head but I don't know if they're real or not."

 

"What's the last thing you remember for sure?"

 

"Standing on a bridge and looking over the barrier to the water." You mumbled.

 

"Uh...yeah...well...you jumped." Your eyes bulged as you looked at him in shock. "Me and Hoseok saw it but we got to you too late, you had stepped off by the time we got to you."

 

"Holy shit, I tried to commit suicide?" He nodded and you took a few steps back until you plopped down onto the bed. "N-no, I wouldn't do that to my parents."

 

"You really weren't yourself that day, Y/N. You scared the shit out of me."

 

"I'm sorry." You were honest and he smiled softly.

 

"I know. I think it was all too much and you shut everything off to try and protect yourself."

 

"Lot of good that did." You joked and he whined.

 

"Please don't joke about almost dying like that, Y/N." He pleaded.

 

"Right, sorry. Too soon, right?" He whined again and you got back up to wrap your arms tight around him. Yoongi returned the embrace instantly. "Thank you Yoongi, for always looking out for me. What do my parents know?"

 

"They think we've gone on a road trip." He answered. "I couldn't say you're ill and staying here, it was hard enough to convince them that was the truth last time you were unconscious."

 

"Sorry. It must be annoying."

 

"I'm only worried for you, not annoyed by you." He insisted and you nodded against his shoulder, believing him. "Do you still want fo-"

 

"Y/N!" Hoseok yelled bursting into the room making both you and Yoongi jump in surprise and split from the other. "I knew I heard your voice!" He ran over to engulf you in his arms. "I'm so glad you're okay!" He cried and you held him tight, burying your face in his shoulder.

 

Hoseok's loud tone had woken the rest of the household minus Seokjin and Molly as their bedroom was on the first floor next to the living room.  
In seconds, four other men had entered the room to each announce their joy at your recovery and hug you tight.

 

When your stomach grumbled, they all backed up realising they were crowding you.

 

"Let's all go have a celebration feast!" Taehyung suggested, already running out of the room and down the stairs.

 

By the time the rest of you had met him in the kitchen, both Seokjin and Molly were there. Seokjin had been awoken by Taehyung running down the stairs and when he got out of bed to investigate what had the fox shifter excited, Molly woke too.

 

"How about grilled cheese?!" Were Seokjin's first words to you. You smiled widely and nodded in agreement. He knew you loved a good grilled cheese sandwich.

 

"Me too, hyung!" Jungkook called walking over to help Seokjin gather ingredients and prepare food for everyone.

 

"How are you feeling, Y/N?" Molly asked, leading you away from the excited males to the dining room where you both sat down at the table.

 

"Hungry, mostly." You answered and she laughed.

 

"Nothing hurts?"

 

"Nope."

 

"Any tingling or odd sensations?"

 

"No well, other than not feeling like myself. Yoongi said it's because I'm like him-like them now."

 

"Yes, I performed the same spell on you as I did all seven of them." She confirmed.

 

"So, I can change into an animal now?" She nodded and you looked down at your hands. "That's cool, I hope it's not a lame animal."

 

"I have a feeling I know what it is." You looked at her surprised. "Do you remember how I said your destiny is here?" You nodded. "You have a destiny many dream of but never really find themselves reaching."

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"You've heard of soulmates, yes?" You nodded. "A lot of people believe everyone has a soulmate but unfortunately, it's not true. It's a nice thought, to believe that who you fall in love with is your soulmate but only a lucky few are destined for such a connection."

 

"Oh. Is Seokjin your soulmate?"

 

"No, I'm not destined for such things but luckily neither is he so our love will last as long as we work for it. But for you, your soulmate will always love you and you them regardless of effort put in. Of course, you'll have ups and downs but you'll always return to each other."

 

"What does this have to do with my animal side?"

 

"Well, animals cannot naturally procreate with other species. You'll turn into the same animal as your soulmate."

 

"And you know who my soulmate is?"

 

"Not for sure and neither will you until you meet eyes in animal form." You tilted your head questioningly and she smiled. "You can't make a connection with only half of you. You've met as humans already but the bond won't be final until you meet in animal form."

 

"Wait, does this mean that I've always meant to turn into a shapeshifter?" Molly nodded solemnly. "The universe wanted me to try to kill myself from the get-go to lead to connecting with my soulmate?"

 

"Maybe not this way but no matter what, something would've happened that would result in you having to change."

 

"I guess I should see what form I take, huh?" You sighed and stretched out.

 

"You want to do this right now? What if...what if your soulmate isn't Yoongi?" You tensed and looked at her slowly.

 

"I thought you said you know who it is? Does this mean it isn't him?"

 

"I only have suspicions, I can't say either way. I just want you to prepare for every possibility."

 

"It's definitely one of the guys?" She nodded. "How do you know?"

 

"The energy emitted when you're here. I can feel the bond but I can't see who it is linked to."

 

"What am I going to do if it's not Yoongi? I don't want to be with anyone else." You confessed and she smiled half-heartedly.

 

"I know you love him and he loves you but if he's not your soulmate, your love won't be enough. You can try to make it work but it'd be best to not allow anything further to happen between you."

 

"Oh." You frowned and folded your arms on the tabletop to rest your chin on them. "I don't want to change now."

 

"Are you going to avoid it for the rest of your life?" She laughed but your sharp nod of confirmation cut her off. "Oh...I've never heard of a shapeshifter that never turns, not even once. I think the animal DNA is too strong to allow that."

 

"Well, I can try to fight it for as long as possible."

 

Neither of you spoke and the room would've been silent if not for the seven noisy males in the room over.

When they joined, they brought with them noise and plates of food.

 

Seokjin had a large platter full of grilled cheese sandwiches for you all to share.  
Jimin had a platter of various prepared fruit that he placed next to the sandwich platter.

 

Yoongi sat next to you and placed a glass of orange juice on the table in front of you. You smiled and accepted it to gulp down a large amount causing him to chuckle.

 

"Thirsty?" He teased.

 

"Hey, I've been asleep for a week, my throat is bound to be a little dry." He hummed and reached out to grab a sandwich and hand it to you. You grinned and took it happily to start eating.

 

All thoughts of soulmates and true love left your mind as you got sucked into conversation with the group, the smile never leaving your lips.

 

***

 

At 6:45 am, you were back in Yoongi's bed and he was beside you.

You were both laid on your sides facing each other, heads on the pillow as you talked softly.   
When the conversation ran out, you both remained like that and simply looked at one another, taking in the others features up close while the calm remained in the room.

 

"Can-can I ask you something serious?" You asked after a little while.

 

A little while after the previous conversation ended, your thoughts inevitably returned to your talk with Molly at the table and you began to worry over your soulmate's identity again.

 

"Yeah, okay." He replied, nodding slightly even if he looked a little concerned. "Anything."

 

"Do you love me?" His eyes widened.

 

"Wh-what?"

 

"Do you love me? I don't mean as friends or whatever, I mean more."

 

"Yes, I do." He answered straight away. "If you hadn't ignored your phone for a month, you'd know this."

 

"Oh, right." You chewed on your lip, allowing yourself to retreat back into your mind.

 

"Do you?" He urged when you didn't return the sentiment. His heart was pounding and his palms growing clammy as his nerves ran wild.

 

"Huh?"

 

"Do you...love me too?"

 

"Oh right, yeah, I do." You nodded and he smiled widely, showing his gums. You couldn't help but smile back.

 

"I know you probably don't feel ready right now after everything that has happened but when you're ready, can we try it again but seriously this time? Will you be my girlfriend?"

 

"I want to say yes right now."

 

"Then why don't you?" You sighed and sat up to lean against the headboard. Yoongi frowned, his lips pouting slightly as he mirrored your position. "Y/N?"

 

"Molly told me I have a soulmate." You announced bluntly.

 

"You believe her?" You nodded. "Why?"

 

"I just...I feel like it's true."

 

"You don't know who it is?"

 

"No, she said we won't know until he and I meet eyes in animal form."

 

"Okay then, let's see if it's us."

 

"What?!"

 

"You don't want to know?" You shook your head. "Why not?"

 

"Because if it's not you, that means we can't be together." Yoongi's whole body sagged at the news. "Molly said we can try but our love won't be enough, we won't last and I'll go to him. It's destiny." You sighed and rubbed your face roughly with your hands. "I want to be with you, Yoongi."

 

"I want to be with you too." Yoongi pulled your hands away from your face to hold them in his own. "But if you're destined for someone else, avoiding this will only hurt us both."

 

"Don't use logic on me." You whined and he chuckled. "I wanted to be ignorant and pretend that if I never change, everything will be okay and we can be together."

 

"You were going to never turn into your animal form?" You nodded. "Is that possible?"

 

"I don't know but I'm willing to try if it means we can be happy and in love."

 

"Fuck, I really wish I could let you try but, I know if I'm not your soulmate then us breaking up is inevitable and I'd rather save us both that heartbreak."

 

"You really want me to change?" He nodded and you got up off of the bed.

 

"Where are you going? Just do it here."

 

"I'll take on the same animal as my soulmate, I don't want you to have to see me if I don't turn into a cat. I don't want you to see who I belong with so suddenly."

 

"Oh, yeah, maybe it's best you don't do it here." He mumbled. "Go in the bathroom, I'll stand on this side of the door." You nodded in agreement and went into his bathroom. Yoongi closed the door behind you and pressed his forehead against it.

 

"What do I do?" You asked only then realising you had no idea how to change.

 

"You know that part of you that doesn't feel like you?"

 

"Yeah."

 

"Focus on it. It's the animal in you. It may take a little while the first time but it gets easier and quicker the more you change."

 

"Okay." You took a deep breath and closed your eyes.

 

"Y/N?"

 

"Yeah?"

 

"I love you, no matter who you're destined for." You smiled and found the part of you that was new, the animal part and worked to focus on making it more prominent.

 

"I love you too, Yoongi."

 

As your body morphed from human to animal, you felt it all. You had expected it to be uncomfortable or painful but it felt great. It felt as if you were turning into what you were meant to be.  
That was when you really started to believe in destiny.

 

When your body became still and settled, you allowed your eyes to open. You were obviously a lot smaller than you were when you closed your eyes but that didn't tell you too much.   
Looking down, you saw fur the colour of your hair. At least you weren't a bird you mused.   
But that still left cat, dog and fennec fox. You were certainly too small to be the same breed as Namjoon but maybe dog shifter soulmates could mate regardless of breed.

You moved forward with your gaze downcast to approach the door that you had seen a full-length mirror on the back of.

 

When you looked up at your reflection, your heart beat erratically in your chest.  
You couldn't help but stare at yourself until there was a knock on the door.

 

"Y/N? Are you okay?" Yoongi called nervously.

 

You almost called out but realised your words wouldn't be in any human language.   
For a second, you were about to change back to human but then you decided not to.

 

"Y/N?" You stayed silent and sat down, staring up at the door expectantly. You knew he'd get worried and enter soon enough.  
"Y/N, answer me or I'm coming in." Only three seconds later, the door flew open and Yoongi's eyes scanned the area, not looking down at the floor for a good five seconds.  
The second his eyes landed on you, he froze.   
You tilted your head at him and let out a noise that made him return to reality.   
"Holy shit!" He exclaimed dropping to his knees to stroke your head lovingly. You couldn't help but purr at his touch and his gummy smile stretched his cheeks. "You're so fucking cute. The cutest cat ever." He cooed. You pulled away from his touch to make an annoyed sound. "What?" Even in cat form, you gave him a look and he understood. A chuckle left his lips before he changed and before you sat Suga. 

The second your eyes met his, you felt your life click into place. It was like everything finally made sense and you understood your place in the world. That place was right next to Yoongi.

He stalked over to you to rub his head against yours affectionately. A happy noise left your throat and you returned the affection. You both purred joyfully as you continued to rub against one another, showing all your love in the best way you could as cats.

 

Silently, Suga turned and faced his room. He looked over his shoulder at you and you understood instantly.

 

Together, you returned to the bedroom and jumped up onto the bed. There you curled up and fell asleep for the first time with your soulmate. The man, or cat, that you would more than happily spend all of eternity with, in whatever form he asked of you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That is such a shitty ending wow I forgot how bad it was. I really need to learn how to write decent endings, it'd suck if I left it like that forever...
> 
> So guess it's a good thing I'm going to write both a sequel and prequel  
> The sequel will only be maybe 3/4 separate stories but obviously all based after PS, just to show how everyone is.   
> The prequel will be more humour based, from what I have planned so far at least.   
> Though I may write each of their origin stories, to say how they changed from human into shapeshifter which means how they met Molly.
> 
> So at some point, there will be two different sets of stories along with PS based in this world  
> I'm very very VERY welcome to ideas for what should happen in both the prequel and sequel as I have little ideas, so few that I've not even started to write anything yet  
> Drop any ideas int he comments, no matter how "dumb" or small and I'll see what I can do with them :3
> 
> I love you guys, thank you for supporting me through this wonderful journey

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr on my shared account CheeMiWritesKpop


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